Advice: Good ideas (do these!)
Don’t let social drama be a distraction
“I think that in high school it’s best to just keep to yourself and not get caught up in other people’s drama, because if you get caught up in that, it will get in the way of your schoolwork. If you’re really involved in someone else’s life and what’s going on with that person, then you have no time to do your homework or study. If focusing on gossip is all you want to do in high school, that’s not going to get you anywhere.”
Be open to new possibilities in college
“College opens your eyes to new possibilities and new interests. Go to college with the idea that you might not know exactly what you want to do. You don’t have to be stuck with what you said you were going to do when you first got there. For me, I ended up changing my major three or for times even after I decided I wanted to move towards a business degree. Keep your mind open, experience new things, and be prepared to change your plans if that’s what you need to do.”
Come up with a plan in college to pay off your student loans
“While you’re still in school, sit down and really think about what do you want to do when you get out. You’re going to have to do something, and there are plenty of online tools that will help you determine what the salary range is going to be for what you want to do. Then, start to really parse out and compare what you expect to make and what the growth potential is for the field that you’re looking to land in after college. By comparing those figures, you can begin to estimate how much debt you can afford to take on.”
— in Think about what you plan to do after school before taking on student loans
Internships open doors to jobs and opportunities
“I was in a 20-hour-a week internship program here at Skowhegan Savings Bank when I was in college. I had to keep a blog of my day-to-day activities, and then present my internship program to my college class. And that really opened the door for me. During my internship, my manager at the time basically asked me if I was interested in a position there and if I would consider working there when I got out of college. I liked what I was doing and it was really interesting to me so I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I thought it would work out really nicely for me and maybe turn into a career.”
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Featured: Be aware of how you present yourself to employers
“With Facebook and other social media, we encourage students to think twice about anything that could be accessed about them off the internet by employers, and whether or not that is something they would like employers to see. We have heard stories from employers who have typed a name into a search and found things the applicant really would not want them to see.”
Featured: Stay focused on the big picture
“You have to understand that every little choice that you make can affect the big picture. Some small choices shift you completely off course, and then there are other choices that you feel like are going to ruin your life that really aren’t. If you get arrested, for example, you think it’s the end of the world, but it’s not necessarily going to derail your whole life unless you have to be in jail for a long time. It’s something you can learn from and move beyond. For me, it’s a matter of discipline: you make a mistake, you learn from it, and then you’ve got to remember what the big picture goal is.”
— in Advice: Think in terms of the “big picture” and seek guidance from others
