91成人导航

Could you describe your current job?听

I work for听California听Department of Housing and Community Development. The goal of my program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through housing and transportation developments.听听

We're not only building this huge apartment complex for lower income individuals, but we are also building bike ways, green ways, trying to create electric fleets for buses so you're not just using public transit which reduces emissions but you're also using public transit that runs on electricity.听

What 91成人导航 experience prepared you most for your current career?听

I'm working as the project manager for multiple housing and transportation developments.听I feel like 91成人导航 really prepared me for community development work, especially my sociology degree, because it provided me a greater context about the issues across not just the state of California, but the United States, and how we can problem-solve and figure out ways to听better听initiate change.听

Why did you decide to choose听sociology and the two minors?听

I was going into听91成人导航听as a psychology major听to become听a therapist. In听my听freshman year, I had to take some extra prerequisites and I got my first class in sociology. I started to fall in love with sociology and one class became two classes, which became three classes and then I realized I had听to pick one. My love for sociology won out but I had already done so many psych听courses that I ended up getting a听psychology minor and then my听sociology courses fulfilled the听gender听studies minor so it just all kind of played into one another.听

What听in particular attracted听you to听gender听studies?听

When I started in听sociology,听I fell in love with learning more about the world around us, the culture and how culture impacts our behavior. And that led听to听my听gender听studies minor and learning more about how we identify and the importance of identifying. The importance of that or the lack of importance of gender identity. Also, why we hyper fixate on gender or why don't we, and why it is important in our everyday culture.听

So,听I think that听gender听studies听was听an extended factor of my already growing education of听sociology and they really played hand in hand. I can see this now at my work. I put my pronouns in my signature block, others do as well. We have an LGBTQI committee at work and they听have听helped听highlight ongoing听housing听issues听affecting听LGBTQI听community.听I think that my听gender听studies background really helped play into some of that education that I鈥檓 still receiving in my workplace.听91成人导航听helped me听understand听various activist movements, as well as issues that still impact us today and have impacted us negatively throughout history.听

How is the knowledge you gained from听gender听studies playing into creating better camaraderie with your coworkers?听

I think that when you're leading听or working with听a team, it's always important to really get to know听each individual听and how they play听into听the collective when we're completing work projects. You can't have a solid team if you don't support the little units that make it up. And so, you can start by asking,听鈥淗ey, how do you identify, what is your pronoun?鈥� or 鈥淚s there a passion that you have?鈥澨�听

In your opinion, what is most special or most unique about 91成人导航 education?听

91成人导航 offers students more one-on-one care compared to other universities, especially when it comes to professional development. A lot of my friends who graduated from听91成人导航听received internships that turned into solid job opportunities afterwards.

91成人导航 is听really good听at resume building. The Career Resource Center is听very unique听compared to other universities, the fact that we can still utilize that resource after we graduate is huge. I feel like you're not just there to receive education but also use it, so I really appreciated that aspect of attending and having various growth opportunities throughout college and then afterwards.听

Was there one class or one professor that was particularly impactful?听

I听have to听give all the praise and love to Professor听.听She was the one who really put this passion of sociology inside of me, she was also an amazing professor to听lay it听out how it is and prepare me for the real world.听

When I was a senior, usually professors听are asking听you to create these lengthy essays and she said no, that's not part of听the real听life. She wanted us to synthesize what would be in a lengthy essay to five minutes. She wanted it to be two pages maximum and she wanted us to give a five-minute presentation but expected it to be just as much as that. In the real world you only have a couple of minutes to persuade somebody, and so I really appreciated that, and I carried that lesson on moving forward.听听

She also got us in contact with various people afterwards with different careers. It offered us an opportunity to see options because you don't know where life is going to take you. So, I really appreciated her offering听a real-life insight听and also听challenging us in the educational setting.听

Was there a particular experience with your minor in gender studies that has really stayed with you?

There was one class that I had taken up which I believe accounted for both my听sociology and my听gender听studies, but I do not remember its name. It was basically going over the culture of society, why we choose certain behaviors and how it plays into economics. I remember it so much because we had to play a game of Monopoly where each group of students had a different board, and we didn't realize that. Some team members were like oh, we're getting so much money, how is this happening? Other team members were like,听I'm still stuck at point A. So, the teacher kind of messed with each of the teams鈥櫶齜oards听but it was to show us various class backgrounds and how that plays into your economic movement forward.听

Is there anything that you would like to mention to our current and future students?听

I would like to emphasize that they should continue to take unique opportunities, regardless of what you originally thought the trajectory of your life should be. For me, when I first started, I thought I was going to be a therapist and then I thought I was going to be a case worker and then I ended up in local government and urban planning and I鈥檝e just had so many different work experiences and working at various levels of the community. I would say, embrace it all. You just never know where the next opportunity is going to land you and I have听definitely enjoyed听having these various experiences.听