Learning to fill my (dress-casual) shoes
Mount Holyoke College sophomore Isabelle Peterson ’28 learned so much from alums at this year’s Sophomore Institute — about careers, about research and about connections.
At noon on Jan. 21, I sat in Gamble Auditorium not knowing what to expect. As I alternated between checking the day’s schedule for the umpteenth time and half-heartedly refreshing my Gmail inbox, I reflected on what had brought me here. I’ve always been ambitious, and I’ve always wanted to do well. But my career goals hadn’t evolved much over the last decade, and neither had my understanding of how to achieve them. At Sophomore Institute, I hoped to change this.
Just as my career-induced reverie began to transform into an anxiety spiral, I was rescued by the sight of familiar faces. As blue lions and purple phoenixes slowly filled the room, I was struck by how eerily similar the experience was to my first Convocation. I was wearing navy from head to toe, balancing a Mount Holyoke notebook on my knee and clutching a Mount Holyoke pen. Once again, I was surrounded by people with the same determined look. Something was different, though. Instead of making me more nervous, I found those around me to be a source of strength. They were no longer a mob of intimidatingly cool strangers, but instead my (still very cool) friends. As we chatted in between information sessions, we speculated — sometimes with fear, sometimes with excitement — about the alums we would be assigned to interview.
I was scheduled to speak with Lori Birrell ’07, dean of the University of Saskatchewan Library, at 7 pm on Friday, the second-to-last day of Sophomore Institute. For me, she was exactly the right person to speak to. We bonded over our shared love of trail running, history and, of course, libraries. Although there were many aspects of being a librarian that enticed me, I was worried about the amount of administrative work that the job seemed to entail. Lori, who had worked in several library-related positions, pointed me to a few research-based subfields that I might explore. After my call ended, I had a much clearer idea of the specific library work that interested me, and an application for a summer internship at the College Archives was already bookmarked on my computer.
On the final day of Sophomore Institute, I put on the dressiest of my dress-casual outfits and hobbled over to the Chapin Auditorium, already regretting my choice of heels. Once inside, I snagged a raspberry pastry and settled down to listen as President Holley moderated a panel on imposter syndrome — one of the few topics covered in Sophomore Institute I had first-hand experience with. Tracy Gilchrist FP ’04, a media veteran known for her viral interview with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, shared that, although she never truly conquered imposter syndrome, she did learn how to manage it. One of the other alums present, Olivia Velez ’98, nodded her head in agreement. It was oddly comforting to learn that even successful adults don’t always feel like they have everything figured out. I’ve often been haunted by the thought that I would never fully vanquish my anxiety, but at that moment, I realized I didn’t need to.
Finally, the time had come to put our new networking skills to the test beneath the beautifully tiled ceilings of Chapin Auditorium. Armed with a cup of cranberry-apple tea and the few tips I could still recall from Friday afternoon’s session, “How to Network In-Person Like a Pro,” I made my way into the fray. I spoke with Tracey Gilchrist about queer media. I asked Mishka Murad ’07 about her life as an academic based outside the United States. I had a last-minute conversation with Gianna Gifford ’92 about the different services small-town libraries and city libraries are expected to provide.
As I made my way about the room, it dawned on me that almost every alum had cited their interactions with others as one of the key factors to their success. I heard about family members who had stopped alums from dropping out of graduate programs, colleagues who had given them the confidence to take career-defining risks and friends who had supported them during their darkest moments. I remembered all the times I had canceled calls with family members to catch up on work or ditched my friends to study for a big test. As my phone pinged, I watched a small, gray-haired woman with a huge grin sneak up behind one of her former classmates. I decided that maybe I wouldn’t go straight back to the library to finish my internship application. I had a roommate to welcome back.
