I’ve headed back to my undergrad a good number of times this past month, and lots of people thought it was because I was being the “creepy alumni” and lurking around campus, hoping to somehow relive my senior year when I was free of responsibility and spending all my time at the bar. Yes, that’s a nice perk of being back, but it’s not what brought me there.
Until I got my job and settled in, I never realized the difference between an actual “creepy alumni” and just “alumni.” I don’t go back to see the buildings, eat the food, or walk around the campus reminiscing. Not yet, at least. As I’ve explained in countless other posts, adulthood is strange and forces you to make new friends for the first time in a long time. How lucky am I that a good number of my close friends are all in one place less than an hour away?
Just because of timing of events this month, I’ve gotten to go back for a few different reasons, from presentations to birthday celebrations, and it’s all been a blast. Shockingly, I’ve been the most excited to go back to speak to communication classes about my story and help ease the minds of graduating seniors about their upcoming year because, hey, I’ve been there, and I survived it.
I was given the opportunity to visit and give a presentation about online portfolios to a communication class of juniors and seniors, and I have pretty limited knowledge on the topic. It ended up being me talking a lot about adulthood and job applications, which I think (hope!) was helpful for all of them. It’s pretty weird to be the “adult” with “experience” and “knowledge.” Please note the air quotes. I was just a student six months ago…
I also got to deliver an interview with a current senior about my life as a Geneseo Communication Major and where it got me. Insert another scary moment for me where being an adult becomes real. I find myself repeating the same little nuggets of knowledge I learned to a lot of different people, but if I can prevent someone for stupidly breaking a plate in the microwave like I did last week, I’d call it a win.
Besides talking about growing up, these visits allowed me to do what I love…talk about social media and get other people to start thinking about it past uploading pictures of your weekend that you can’t remember up on Facebook. Despite all of the brick walls that I seem to hit at work, it’s little things like these presentations that keep me energized and excited about the field, and glad I chose to be a part of it.