How Identity Has Influenced A Director And Chief Curator At UC Santa Cruz's Career
Rachel's undergraduate success stemmed from treating "every class and every opportunity...as something that was a real viable opportunity," actively pursuing research grants and funding to maximize learning within four years. This proactive approach, viewing undergraduate education as a crucial element of career development, allowed for significant knowledge acquisition and experience before entering the professional world as Director and Chief Curator.
Career Development, Proactive Learning, Opportunity Seeking, Resourcefulness, Goal-Oriented
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Rachel Nelson
Director and Chief Curator
Institute of the Arts and Sciences, UC Santa Cruz
Stetson University, 2010
PHD, UCSC Visual Studies
Classics, Spanish Literature
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Education
Creative
Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. Took every class seriously and tried to learn from every opportunity, even those outside of her main interests.
2. Actively pursued grants and funding for summer research and travel opportunities.
3. Approached her undergraduate education as a significant career opportunity, maximizing learning and networking within a limited timeframe.
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
I think in my undergraduate education, one of the things that set me up for my career is that I tried to treat every class and every opportunity I had as something that was a real, viable opportunity. So, when I took a class, even if it was completely outside of what I was interested in, I tried to see what I could glean from it.
I tried to take it seriously and I also pursued every opportunity that I saw. There were grants that you could apply for for summer research, and I did that in my junior and senior year. So I got funding during the summers and I got travel money.
I took every opportunity, but I just took the whole thing really seriously. I took it as part of my career. It was my opportunity to get as much as possible in what was a pretty short amount of time. Four years isn't that long, but I wanted to know how much I could get out of those four years.
So I was really proactive about not writing off any part of it. I took the whole thing as this vast opportunity to learn about things or to hear from people who knew a lot about things that I didn't know very much about.
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