As a senior studying Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Arkansas, I know I’m walking away from my undergraduate studies with some invaluable career skills I gained through an incredible degree program and additional internship experience. Thanks to countless professors who have personally seen to us students’ success in the classroom and beyond, I’ve been able to polish pieces such as consumer insights reports, news releases, and writing samples that will help my portfolio stand out during my job hunt.
However, as a college senior, most of my peers and I have been experiencing the seemingly impending doom of post-grad life. We’re being told that graduating students are experiencing the most difficulties securing jobs than ever before.
In this individualistic society, we are raised with an “every-man-for-himself” mindset: make it to the top at any cost, be as successful as you can, and do it all before the person next to you. I believe this perspective only adds onto the stress of us aspiring professionals.
My first two years in college were heavily focused on advertising and public relations courses, and is one of the few remaining majors at the U of A that includes a language requirement that cannot be substituted with a cultural elective. Looking back, I’m beyond grateful that my degree audit pushed me in that direction.
I was adopted from Kazakhstan when I was 10 months old, so when I noticed that Elementary Russian was offered during my freshman year, I immediately registered. I continued the language pathway over the years and was fortunate to take 5 semesters of Russian language through the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.
As I progressed through the Russian Studies minor, which also gives students the opportunity to study 9 hours of Eurasian culture and history, my interest in Russia and its neighboring regions grew. Courses such as History of Central Asia, Geography of Eurasia, and Voices of Ukraine made me think critically about international issues that extend beyond the classroom into real people’s lives.
I was also included in a vibrant, culturally diverse, and welcoming community of the Russian-Eurasian Student Club. While I was searching for reconnection with my Kazakh heritage, I met others searching for connection back to Latvian, South Ossetian, Ashkenazi Jewish, Ukrainian, Siberian, and Russian heritages. I attended weekly conversation tables, Eurasian cooking events, and Soviet film screenings.
During my summer internship at Stone Ward, a nationally recognized advertising agency in Little Rock, I met people that changed the way I viewed my future. The most important lesson I left with was that people are your greatest asset. While I understood that this meant that your professional network was a crucial aspect to success in the workforce, I interpreted this lesson with an even deeper meaning.
The people I’ve met in the Russian-Eurasian community here at the U of A have shared with me Eurasian tradition and culture. Because of them, I’ve opened my mind to ideas and perspectives I never could have considered on my own. To me, one of the most beautiful things about the world is its diversity: everybody you will ever meet will have had completely different upbringings, beliefs, and experiences than you. Those differences are where we can grow and learn the most from.
An employee at Stone Ward once told us that in today’s competitive job market, you have to be interesting. Find something you’re passionate about and use it to make yourself stand out. At the end of the day, everybody who has the same major as you is going to graduate with the same body of required assignments to show employers. While my minors in Russian and Global Studies helped me understand where I came from, they also supplied me with invaluable career skills: to listen before reacting, to lead with humility and kindness, and to use our differences to make us stronger.
I believe that college is what you make of it. By studying cultural courses and getting involved in the World Languages Department, Russian Department, and Russian-Eurasian Club, I’ve crafted a personal brand of advertising, public relations, and cultural connection I can apply to the workforce with.
I encourage fellow students to become changed for the better by considering language and cultural courses at the U of A. Not only can you open your mind to a world you’ve never imagined before, but you can tell employers a genuine story that will help you stand out as a human, and not just another resume in the pile.