First-gen advice

I want to thank Alex Budak for allowing me to speak at his “Becoming a Changemaker” info session and Daily Californian interview. Throughout the course, many of the lessons and assignments we completed led me to self-reflect and diverge on some of my preconceived knowledge of leadership and confidence. What I really appreciated about the “Becoming a Changemaker” course was the lessons we learned and seeing its immediate impact in every aspect of my life.

During the info session, I was asked what I’ve done differently as a result of the course. As I was sharing my piece, I realized I wanted to share this advice to all young students. Specifically, first generation students who want to major in Political Science, International Affairs, and related fields. As a first-generation Political Science student in her senior year, it’s been incredibly frustrating acquiring advice and tips such as how to get internships or what to do after graduation.

Thus, I’ve written this article with this style:

  1. My piece of advice.
  2. Personal Example(s).
  3. Direct notes from my notebook (They’re random notes that I hope inform aspiring Political Science students. Please do deeper research if one of them catches your attention).

The overall message: absorb as much information as possible.

No. This doesn’t just mean “visit office hours whenever possible.” (Although, do this as well). Think of this action as a superficial step in absorbing as much information as possible from your university, work, or whatever life circumstance you’re in currently. In reality, you should strive to go beyond your comfort zone. In fact, your personal bubble should ache from all the conversations, greetings, and new experiences you’ll pursue.

 1. Conduct informational interviews 

I had this mentality growing up of avoiding to ask favors from people – let alone strangers. I never wanted to bother anyone, come off as needy, or put myself out there. Even when I learned how normal informational interviews are within the professional world, which wasn’t until my third year in college, it was still awkward for me to reach out to someone randomly. However, I see now these tendencies and beliefs are a symptom of being a woman of color in this world. Thus, I’m here to remind you: it is completely normal to randomly ping a professional, especially in your aspiring field, to ask questions about their journey, career, and advice. 

*I’ve also linked an article published in the Harvard Business Review that talks about the benefits and strategies of conducting an informational interview.* 

Personal example:

There is one building on my campus where many Political Science professors hold office hours. Once I got familiar with my schedule and this building, I took pictures of professors’ office hours (which should be on their doors or online) and either visited them or scheduled appointments through email. Because I made it a point to visit professors outside my courses, I briefed myself on their bios before visiting them so that I could go in depth about their careers, publications, and interests. I always brought a notebook to write down organizations they worked with or to write down general advice they provided. This method is especially useful to familiarize yourself with Political Science careers since there are so many career avenues to pursue after graduation, i.e think tanks, Congress, State Department, NGOs, INGOs, etc.

 *I’ve used this guide written by the University of Kansas that does a fantastic job in distinguishing political careers, strategies, and internships for students confused on what to pursue during or post graduation.*

 As a result, I learned the following things:

  • Take a 2-3 year break before attending grad school.
  • Go to a grad school on the East coast, especially if you want to work in DC.
  • Start incredibly early when looking at internships in government or DC. For example, State Department internship applications start a year in advance because of year-long security checks.
  • Do well in your undergraduate years because most jobs in DC/government will require a Masters – especially international work.
  • However, don’t obsess over grades. GPA averages are not as high compared to law schools. Graduate schools want to “recruit” students who have breadth of experience and will help build their brand. 
  • Learn another language or perfect your second language if you want a career in the international sphere.
  • The mentality in grad schools is to find connections and level up your career rather than learn new content, thus, choose a school where you envision yourself living afterwards for the best use of their local resources/internships.

 2. Listen to your elders. 

This is my favorite quote that I feel everyone should try and embody: “If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.” Whether it be a senior, professor, graduate student, senior in college, or even a peer – they most likely offer a different insight that may shape your perspective. You should always look to be in situations where others know more than you. (Hence, why I took a business course and Gulf States course). Essentially, always treat people as radiant beings filled with great information and advice. That being said, if you meet someone who peaks your interest, even if they’re just a classmate, get their contact information! Take advantage of the many different types of people in your surroundings.

Personal Example:

I recall having a random one-hour long conversation with a senior from one of my courses. He talked about his military background, his research experience in the Middle East, and stressed out life because of LSATs. This guy was awesome – so I asked for his contact info to catch up one day and hear about his law school experience. I ran into him a year later and he had gotten into all law schools – including Harvard Law school!

Personal Example:

In my university, there are a few popular courses in my major. (One course I can think of has about 500 students for a Political Science lecture). Many students always try to make time to meet these professors – which is great! However, my logic when looking at these courses was: if the professor is amazing, so must be the graduate students helping teach these courses. Thus, I looked at the graduate student list teaching this course and reached out to them. I met with all of them and was flexible in my appointments – they ranged from 8am to 7pm. Similar to the professors, I looked at their LinkedIn profiles prior to meeting them. Most importantly, I brought my notebook with me but for slightly different reasons.

Every time you speak with someone about their experiences, they always say something like, “Yes, back when I worked with X…” Essentially, at some point of the conversation, they will drop a name. I make note of this name in my notebook so when I send a follow-up email, as you should always do after meeting someone, you can say: “Thank you for meeting me. By the way, you mentioned X in our conversation. Would you mind introducing them to me or vice versa?” Although, don’t be this abrupt when sending your follow up email.

What I learned:

  • The differences between think-tanks (they provide the research) and Congress (they use the research to create policies).
  • Teach for America offers programs for people interested in working on their “political” skills like grassroot.
  • Teach for America starts recruitment extremely early – up to your junior year in college. Complete the process early if you want a high chance of teaching in an area of your choosing.
  • Teach for America is always a great option, especially for those who aren’t sure of what to pursue yet love teaching. It’s a highly respected organization and employers everywhere both love and recognize people who completed Teach for America. (Even employers not affiliated with education). However, it’s intensive and should not be treated as a fallback option for those “kind-of” interested in teaching or don’t envision teaching/joining education after completion. For blogs click here.
  • Joining the Peace corps is not as competitive as their marketing presents. Moreover, the majority of people who join leave after one year – not two years.
  • Don’t be afraid to apply even if you don’t think you qualify! Especially for women, who usually apply to jobs they feel 100% qualified for while men usually apply to jobs they feel about 60% qualified for.
  • Always have your informational interview in person if possible. If you’re reaching out to people in D.C. (or any field outside your local neighborhood), dedicate your spring break and one week in the summer to meet with these individuals.
  • Getting an internship in D.C. is mostly possible if you know someone. Thus, reach out to people in the area when looking for internships.
  • Make a good impression in your first internship in D.C. because it’s a “small town.”
  • Always send follow up emails after every meeting you’ve completed. Update them at least twice a year.
  • Get as much research experience as possible during your undergraduate years.
  • The proper format of resumes for D.C. and political science internships (Traditional, no colors, education placed on the top, etc.). This is a completely different tone than other kind of industries ask for such as tech.
  • Most Political Science students don’t even pursue a job related to politics after graduation.

 3. Always attend small events 

This video explains how one of the worst ways to network is to attend those networking/career events. He gives a detailed explanation for his reasoning, which makes sense. After all, recruiters show up with the intent to meet many people and not build genuine relationships.

My recommendation to network – attend these events but don’t depend on them.

The best kind of events to attend for genuine relationships are fun, random events that align with your interests. For example, my roommate joined a random campus club that interested her. In this club, she got to meet the nephew of Hasan Minhaj! I would also highly recommend attending those educational workshops which departments tend to email students about. You would be surprised by how few people actually attend these workshops, even “popular” one’s where you have to RSVP.

Personal Example:

One time, the Berkeley Political Science department sent a massive invite for a resume-building workshop event. When I attended, there were about 10 people present with several graduate students ready to edit our resumes. One graduate student looked over my resume, gave me great edits, and offered insight into his experiences with applying to D.C. internships and think-tanks. We built a great rapport and I asked for his contact information. We met again a month later, where he gave me great advice on what I should do post-graduation. More importantly, I had mentioned I was in the process of applying to internships and he helped send my resume for a research opportunity with people he knew at Harvard University.

What I learned: 

  • It is completely normal not to have a job straight out of college – remember this especially when your tech friends start getting offers during their senior year.
  • Whatever internship you’ve completed that doesn’t include research, whether it be marketing, sales, tech, etc. will always be relevant to a position in D.C./government. Remember, there is no certain “path” you have to follow to get a career in D.C./government. In fact, as Michelle Obama said in her documentary, many people in D.C./government find themselves there by accident or luck of knowing someone.
  • Joining a campaign will help you tremendously if you envision a career with Congress; this is not because you’ll develop unique skills (although you will) but rather because of the connections you’ll accrue.
  • Build a personal website and create a heavy presence on social media. Write articles, create content, do anything that will demonstrate your creativity, video skills, writing skills, personality, etc. Word press is a great format to use for individuals not familiar with tech yet want to build a website. 

4. Don’t be afraid of failure

For this piece, I’ll start with a personal example. 

Growing up, Stanford University was the college my neighborhood schools always visited. Stanford University gear always flooded the local college shops and restaurants. Stanford University was the school everyone crazed over in my high school. The point is Stanford was the one university I grew to idolize, yet never envisioned myself getting accepted, let alone attending a course.

For a long time, my biggest fear was looking dumb in front of my peers.

Because of personal experiences as a woman of color attending a white-majority school, I was terrified of asking for help or raising my hand in class. This insecurity grew robustly throughout my years in high school and almost consumed my identity. 

I mention this backstory because it provides better context of my mental state when I attended a Stanford course. In Spring 2019, I was attending community college and had an extremely light course load. I was already working full-time, yet I found myself still wanting to do something else in my free time. After much self-reflection, it hit me. I wanted to attend a course without having the stress of grades. However, if I wanted to learn for pure self interest, I also wanted to take a course “completely out there” for me. That’s when I decided that I should just attend a course at Stanford. After all, the university was ten minutes away from me.

It was 1am when I scrounged the internet for a course list. Once I found the course list, I took a screenshot of the map. The next day, I drove to Stanford, parked my car, and mentally prepared myself to walk to this course. I know it sounds weird in the grand scheme, but I was extremely nervous. I had many thoughts running through my head when walking to the class. (Will I be allowed here? Will I look dumb in front of genuises? Am I just fooling myself to think I can study alongside top students?) After many deep breaths, I walked into the course. I remember immediately wanting to leave because I had already felt out of place. 

When I sat down, one of my classmates asked me, “Hi! My name is X! Just curious – who do you have discussion with?”

I remember thinking to myself, “What is she talking about? What’s a discussion?” I couldn’t think of a better answer other than responding with the professor’s name, but she gave me a puzzled face and said, “Um… Are they running a discussion? I didn’t know?”

I immediately confessed that I’m a fraud (a community college student wanting to take this course for fun) and she just laughed and welcomed me to the course. I learned this much later, but university-level courses typically offer weekly discussions taught by graduate students. This didn’t happen in my community college nor any other community college I’ve heard of. 

After the course ended, I introduced my situation afterwards to the professors. They allowed me to stay and even participate in group assignments. 

What I learned:

  • Private universities “pamper” their students. I know this is obvious but having experienced a course in Stanford and UC Berkeley I finally felt what this meant. For example, Stanford discussions with TA’s are about 10-15 students while Berkeley discussions are about 25-30. 
  • My roommate explained the difference in Stanford and UC Berkeley perfectly: Stanford is the type of school you’d want to attend as a grad student who’s already experienced so much, while Berkeley is the best school for undergraduates looking to gain their footing in the world and acquire real life experience.
  • There is a HUGE sentiment of imposter syndrome on campus. In fact, more than I’ve seen at UC Berkeley. 
  • The campus has great, intelligent students; yet, you still saw the students who hesitated to answer questions in courses, confused about lectures and readings, MANY who didn’t read the readings, showed up late to class, did assignments last minute, etc. Essentially, they’re normal students. 

I’m not encouraging you to just invade local schools and sit in their lectures (although, I did read an interesting article in which an individual took “under the table” courses at Ivy Leagues and was able to secure a job despite not having a diploma). Rather, I’m suggesting to look deep within yourself and try to attempt something that scares and intimidates you. In this case, my biggest insecurity was looking dumb, so I attended a Stanford course to challenge this fear.

What resulted was seeing that I’m not the only individual who feels imposter syndrome and I can bring ideas to a prestigious university. I truly believe this experience helped ease my “mental” transition to UC Berkeley. While studying at Berkeley, I definitely experienced sentiments of insecurity, but I always reverted back to this experience to remind myself of not being scared to fail.

Overall, through every setback I overcame, accomplishment I completed, or opportunity I received in life, there were people along the way helping me. I hope these random experiences from my life help any student looking for guidance or reassurance.

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Aurora Lopez is a UC Berkeley student majoring in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations. She possesses an associates degree in Political Science along with experience in supporting Latinx communities and youth. Connect with Aurora via linkedin and instagram.

For more information about Alex Budak and his course, check out this article written by the Berkeley News.