女校友 Share Their Professional Journeys During Career Day Workshops, Part 1

Students enjoyed the small-group sessions as they explored the wide range of careers available to choose from this Career Day. Their stories were as varied as their careers! Following are a few highlights from the day, watch for the rest next week. 

Patia graduated from Foxcroft in 2016 and went to Vanderbilt intent on studying Chemical Engineering because of her experience with chemistry while at Foxcroft, 但在她的第一个工程模块之后,我不太确定. 幸运的是, the next modules in 电气工程师ing, 《电路》赢得了她的芳心, 她换了专业. A study abroad opportunity in France and several internships, including one at Chevron where she works today revealed the diverse fields within electrical engineering — everything from microelectronics to robotics to instrumentation and control systems (Patia’s current specialization). Her advice for the first year of college is to not take yourself too seriously. 不要害怕问问题, 一定要了解你的教授, and take advantage of all the opportunities available to you.

Adela got her BA in International Comparative Studies with a focus on Africa at Duke after graduating from Foxcroft in 2006, but it was her study abroad experience that changed the trajectory of her career. Her host mom was a midwife and as a result, she discovered midwifery — something she had thought no longer existed! When she returned to Duke, she immediately started the prerequisites for nursing school. She opted for the Certified Nurse Midwife program in which you receive your RN, 然后是助产学硕士学位. Because she already had a BA when she started her nursing degree, she completed her accelerated RN program in just 15 months, 然后她开始了助产士培训. Adela currently works for the Virginia Department of Health in their Sexual & Reproductive Health Clinic but is also very involved in managing the state’s COVID-19 response. Though she’s not currently “catching babies,” she likes having the systems-level view that she has now.

Caitlin started her career journey working as a small animal veterinary assistant in her home state of California as a way to get her foot in the door, shortly after graduating from Foxcroft in 2006. 两年后, she was able to move on and become a large animal ambulatory veterinary technician, which means that she — and all of her equipment — travel to a client’s facility to treat sheep, 山羊, 骆驼, 羊驼, and cows but about 85% of her time is spent with horses. With her 20-year background in riding and general horse knowledge, Caitlin is considered to be “on the job” trained and opted not to do special schooling or certification, but did walk students through the various educational options available and some of the skills needed to do her job. She also shared some of the best (births), 坏的(安乐死), and most rewarding (working with rescue centers to aid animals saved during fire season) parts of her job.

Flora went on to Pepperdine University following her graduation from Foxcroft, 但是我有点想家了, transferred to the University of Tennessee (UT) where she sort of fell into the journalism program and solidified her interest in writing, ultimately becoming the managing editor of UT's daily newspaper. She shared her firm belief in the importance of internships and offered up a few things that she wished she’d known in high school: you don’t have to know what you want to do, don’t let high school or even college define you because there is so much more life after them, 出席并努力工作很重要, 工作也可以很有趣. As she said, “I really enjoy my job and there's so much cool stuff out there that you can do. Anything you're passionate about, there's a job out there.”