First Job : ‘Sometimes You Miss the Spring Breaks’
ANGIE KENER
Graduate of Whittier College, 23; bachelor’s degree in psychology
I’m an admissions counselor at Mount St. Mary’s College (a Catholic liberal arts college in West Los Angeles). I recruit students, counsel them about higher education and assist them and their families through the transition from high school to college. I also plan programs to acquaint students with our school.
I got interested in admissions counseling because I did it during my sophomore year as part of a work-study program. I might eventually go back to school for a higher degree and go into clinical psychology or neuropsychology. But right now this job is great.
I’ve learned a lot that I can carry into any other profession, whether it’s interviewing techniques, writing letters or speaking in public on the spur of moment.
In admissions, you have to be a team player. Your goal as a group is to get the class for next year. I know I’m lucky because the people I work with are very enjoyable and I have a great boss. She gives us responsibility and lets us run with it. She lets us make our own mistakes.
The toughest thing is the commute (from Whittier to West Los Angeles). And my hours can vary. So I leave home at 6:30 or 7 a.m. and I can be home as late as 8:15 p.m. It’s exhausting. Sometimes you miss the spring breaks, and it seems like work will never end.
I have a real sense of accomplishment, knowing I can put in the hours and see a program I was in charge of be successful. I like seeing students and families happy when they leave the campus.
I believe people touch other people, some in big ways and others in little small ways. And I think I’ve been encouraging to students. I’ve also shown to my colleagues what I can do and what they can do.
The psychology classes I took in college, plus my experience in the admissions office there, really helped. If there is something I would do differently it would have been to take more math and history, so I could understand more about the world.
But the biggest thing I learned in college was to be myself. This job has helped me take charge of my life.
