It's Not Just About Ideas

Everyone deserves to share their life’s story about how they got started in their career. I started out as a student at Lamar University majoring in Speech and Hearing Sciences. During one of my classes, we got a presentation from one of the professors in the Social Work Department explaining to use about what their degree entails. From that day on I was hooked on Social Work and I changed my major over to it at the end of the first semster.

Now your probably wondering why I am in college admissions right? How did I get from Social Work to working with students on their application process? Well when I finished my degree with Lamar, I was on the lookout for a job within the Social Work field. I kept looking for a long time but even though I had an internship with Communities in Schools my senior year of college, every job that I applied wanted someone with more experience. So I eventually took on a job in a preschool where I was a teacher to the young kids and that went amazingly well. I eventually decided that I was not happy in that environment so I started on the job hunt again.

I eventually came across a post on Facebook from Lamar University stating that their Regional Admissions Counselor position was open in Houston. I applied for that job and soon after I got hired! I started out in the height of recruitment season and I was so overwhelmed at first with all of the travelling, deadlines and recruiting we needed to do. Eventually I got used to it and for the first time in my life, I was happy where I was working. I loved talking with the students and helping them through their college admissions process and I had a great team to work with. Almost two years later, I am still working in the same position because I love the work that I do and I do not want it end anytime soon.

That is when I decided I wanted to continue in higher education so I started looking for a masters degree to major in. I eventually found ADL and I fell in love with it. https://flopez.org/2024/03/18/just-starting-out/ It is a difficult process for me because I don’t have my own group of students I see every day, I only see students when I go recruiting for Lamar but I am using that difficulty to my advantage by being able to conduct unique research and projects within the ADL classes. I am very happy where I am right now and I would not trade it for the world. I recommend to everyone reading this, if you have not already found a job that you are happy in, keep on looking and do not give up hope. You might find a job in a place where you weren’t originally working and it does happen for everyone at some point in their lives.