Comm299 taught me a lesson that I hear every day when I wake up to the song “The City” by Maurice. This lesson summarized in a phrase seems to have passed over most people, but it has definitely stuck with me: “Take chances; you are genuine.”
So many times, people complained that Comm299 was turning out cookie cutter versions of ourselves. I understand the issues that they had, but they were surface issues. Yes, all our resumes look the same at a glance, but none of them are the same once you dig into the content. Philippe emphasized over and over that we need to remain genuine, that we need to discover our inner passions, in order for us to succeed. The perfectly formatted resume gets you through the first door, but it’s your genuine personality and passion that gets you to your dream job.
The first part, “take chances”, is really where I personally grew. I couldn’t believe it when I was preparing for my interview and sat, stuck in shame, for half an hour as I tried to conjure up anecdotal evidence of a time that I took a risk. I’m always taking calculated risks, leveraging myself, weighing the pros and cons a thousand times before I jump in. I take the motto “look before you leap” a bit too far. I need to take more chances! I’m always so afraid of failure, but what’s more of a failure than not even trying? Comm 299 opened my eyes to all the opportunities that are available at UBC, and in the workplace, and helped me realized that there’s so many things out their that I can try, that if I take enough chances, I’ll eventually hit gold. All you need to make it in this world are your passions and the fearlessness to pursue them. Information interviews are definitely something that I’m going to try, despite how nervous the idea makes me.
