College Experiences That Helped a CTO at Scholarly Succeed
While emphasizing the importance of hard work and focusing on studies, Kelly highlights an unexpected contributor to their career success: joining the improv team at Loyola Marymount University. This experience, described as "putting myself out there," fostered valuable skills, built strong friendships, and ultimately changed their trajectory, proving that "get[ting] out there, do[ing] something weird, [and] hav[ing] fun" can be unexpectedly beneficial.
Communication, Teamwork, Overcoming Challenges, Confidence, Motivation
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kelly Sutton
CTO
Scholarly
Loyola Marymount University
N/A
Computer Science
Education, Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Honors Student
Video Highlights
1. Join extracurricular activities to build teamwork and communication skills.
2. Step outside your comfort zone and try new things.
3. Balance hard work with fun and social activities to avoid burnout and enhance your overall college experience.
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
Still trying to find success, and I'm still working on that. But other than working hard and focusing on my studies, I tried something I wasn't expecting to even make the team.
At LMU, there's an improv team that does shows once a week. Trying out for that, I really put myself out there. Normally I'm very much an introvert; I had never been on a stage before.
Learning all the skills from improv, like creating a great group of friends there, really changed the trajectory of my time in school and, probably, my life and career afterwards.
So, to distill that: get out there, do something weird, and just have fun. Don't take things too seriously, but also have fun outside of your studies.