College Experiences That Helped a Director of Programs at Minds Matter Southern California Succeed
Shalin, a Director of Programs, credits their undergraduate experience at UC Berkeley with fostering career success by actively breaking "the Berkeley bubble." This involved engaging with the broader community through volunteer work and social interaction, providing valuable experience navigating diverse spaces and understanding community issues—skills highly relevant to their current nonprofit role.
Community Engagement, Networking, Real-World Experience, Adaptability, Cultural Awareness
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Shalin Craig
Director of Programs
Minds Matter Southern California
University of California, Berkeley, 2015
N/A
Ethnic & Related Studies
Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Education
Scholarship Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Engaging with the broader community outside of campus life helped ground her and prepare for life after college.
2. Volunteering and interacting with people outside of her immediate social circles helped her better understand the larger community and its issues.
3. Having prior experience navigating different spaces and interacting with various groups of people made the transition into the professional world smoother, as she was already used to networking and understanding community dynamics
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
I went to UC Berkeley, and people there used a phrase called the "Berkeley bubble." It referred to how campus life could be all-encompassing.
It could be hard to break out of that bubble, even just to physically leave the campus or the area around it. When I was an undergrad, one thing that really helped me was breaking through the Berkeley bubble.
This meant engaging with the broader community and understanding my position in relation to it. I knew I was only there for four years, and that my time was temporary. If my whole world was just the campus, I might feel more lost when it was time to leave.
I also went to college in a place I didn't grow up, so it was important for me to understand the larger community. For me, this looked like engaging with local organizations and doing volunteer work.
Even just socially, getting out and interacting with people who weren't students really helped to ground me. It also set me up for life after graduation when I wouldn't be on campus, working and seeing the same people every day.
This adjustment made things a lot smoother because I was already used to navigating different spaces. I had an understanding of how organizations engage with the community and the issues they advocate for.
Having a sense of what was going on in the broader community was super important for me.