Here’s to the Dream
Krystal Hodder // January 30, 2012
Looking for the right work term while making sure you get a work term is definitely hard to balance. My goal this past semester was to make sure I found a work term similar to what I’d like to do when I graduate. But it wasn’t easy to find a job description that looked like the job I was hoping for. The pressure built as the end of the semester loomed and fewer job listings were posted. Then came the time when no new postings went up on the Mount website and instead were emailed to the few students left without a co-op.
I started thinking “Did I apply to enough?” “I should have sent in those few I didn’t really want but, looking back, might have been alright.” Every time I received an email on my phone and that letter icon showed up, my stomach would clench and I would cross everything I had, knowing that interviews and job offers were slowing down.
Then the phone rang and I received the call I had waited three months for: “Krystal, this is Nicole from the Co-op Office; I am very excited to offer you the position with Dalhousie Medical Alumni Association. You have until 12 p.m. tomorrow to decide.”
Running through my head all at once was “YESSSSS!” “Finally!” “I wanted this one SO badly!” “24 hours? I don’t need that.” Finally I realized Nicole was waiting for some kind of response. Finally words stumbled out of my mouth, “Of course I’ll take it. I’ll be in this afternoon.” I could not have asked for a better Christmas gift! The very last day before the Mount closed for the Christmas holidays and I could not believe I had a co-op. I hung up and looked at the time. 9 a.m.? How was I supposed to go back to sleep? I got up and waited two hours before calling Dalhousie Medical Alumni Association (DMAA) to check in with them. I didn’t want to appear too eager.
On January 16, 2012 I walked into the DMAA office. Paulette, the Executive Assistant for the DMAA Office, was waiting for me with a warm smile. I liked her immediately (we Newfoundlanders have to stick together, after all). Joanne, the Executive Director, followed behind me with another warm smile. All I could think was, “it’s going to be an amazing semester.”
The DMAA office is an association that helps their alumnus stay in touch with their school, each other, and current students attending the medical school. The DMAA offers full service reunions (the only association in Nova Scotia to do this), which means they will help the class reps fully plan their class reunion. The process begins when Paulette gets in contact with the class reps a year in advance to begin the process of figuring out where the event will be held. Some classes (usually the oldest classes and the very newly graduated classes) will opt to have their class reunion at the same time as the DMAA Awards and Gala. Other classes will plan cruises, vacations to the U.S., or even to the Bahamas. The event planning ends when the doors close and the alumnae have left the venue. The DMAA office also keeps the alumnus in the loop by producing a magazine, VoxMeDal, which is published twice a year. VoxMeDal will have articles, profiles, Dalhousie Medical School updates, and invitations for the upcoming Gala or “Save the Dates” for this year’s class reunions.
After the little tour of “the need to know” Joanne and I talked about what I will do this semester and how I will help the Dalhousie Medical Alumni Association. The first couple of projects are to help with class reunion letters, emails, reservations and registration. I will also help with the gala ticket sales, written materials, promotional materials, and registration form. Finally, I was given a list of Doctors I have to interview and do profiles on for the Dean of Medicine.
I am very excited to see where these projects will take me over the next 12 weeks. I am very determined to get as much out of this work term experience as I can because this is an area of public relations that I would very much enjoy as a career path. This is going to be a deciding work term; will I stay with event planning? Or will I prefer something else?
I have no real way of telling–I won’t know until the work term is over. But I do know one thing right now: I will gain invaluable experience on this work term. I will learn both about myself and where I want to be in the future. This work term will teach me many skills that I can use in any area of public relations that I decide to go into. I look forward to the end of the work term to see how much I have grown both professionally and personally.
