When I was four years old, I wanted to be a dentist. Why? Because of Hermey the Elf from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I have since considered a career in firefighting, law and being a fairy princess, but it has all come down to this: my final college internship. As I enter my junior year, everyone seems to have their life all figured out, and even though it is only September, it looks like everyone has found an internship with their dream job offer attached.
I have been avoiding it for weeks. My apartment is spotless, I have watched three seasons of "Love Island," and then, one fateful evening, I got The Email.
“Dear Carolina community,” they taunt, detailing the prospect of a promising career, “to help, we’ve launched the UNC Career Hub.”
To my dismay, when I clicked on the website and saw the flood of resources, I realized it was official — I have no more excuses. It’s time to find a summer internship.
Now, I have had my fair share of frustrations with UNC webpages. ConnectCarolina is enough to make me want to throw my computer at a wall. I was honestly hoping for a similar experience with this new development, and that I could use it as an excuse to start another rewatch of "New Girl" while I employed my trusty stress-but-do-nothing approach to my future. Unfortunately, fellow Tar Heels, the new UNC Career Hub is agonizingly organized and runs frustratingly smoothly.
In all seriousness, the process of not only deciding on your career, but taking the steps to make it happen — especially with everything else we have on our plates as college students — can be really daunting. The Career Hub offers a way to make those first steps a little bit more manageable. No matter where you are in the process of future-mapping, there are resources available to meet you where you are and help you get closer to where you want to be.
The website greets you with options ranging from resume-building, career coaching, salary negotiation practice and so much more, all organized by field. One of the more helpful resources, I have found, are the networking opportunities. As students at a large university, it can feel like you are a small fish in a big pond. The reality is, when UNC puts its efforts into student-centered resources like this, the opportunities that come with such a large network are endless.
While I can’t say I am having the time of my life on my new internship journey, I will admit that resources and networks like the ones offered here make me a proud Tar Heel. I am as excited about this new career-centered website as a person can be about a new career-centered website, the kind of excitement that makes you go “Wow, we really are a Public Ivy!”
UNC gives every student the opportunity to pursue their passion in a unique and elite environment. While I hope that your passion is based on more than cartoon elves, this truly is the time in your life to expand your horizons and try new and exciting things. So my advice is this: Your career is important, and you should take advantage of the Career Hub, but since it will save you so much effort, use all that spare time to try your hand at becoming a fairy princess first.
