OK, you go to school, you get your degree and you’re locked into that career choice for the rest of your life, right? Well, today’s students don’t want to be locked into just one job. It’s not a matter of attention deficit. I think it has to do with their quest to keep learning. Well, during the recent Novus International Undergraduate Networking Day, the Missouri Colleges Fund scholars got the chance to see just what their options might be.
One such student was Alexis Westerhausen, a sophomore studying biological chemistry at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., who said she was impressed by how interested the companies’ were in the students, considering they were undergrads and many of them hadn’t even made definite career plans yet. And she said the tour gave her an education she didn’t get at school.
“Colleges don’t portray to us all the opportunities we have in the science field. So it’s kind of neat to see these local businesses that are interested in us.”
Westerhausen said she was also surprised how many other jobs you could move to within a company like Novus. As you might remember from earlier posts, many of the Novus staff either started out in a different part of the company or in a different career with another company altogether. That gave Westerhausen some solace that she doesn’t have to be locked into only one job her entire career.
“That does kind of comfort me, because, right now, I’m really interested in chemistry. But it’s nice to know that I’m not stuck there for the rest of my life.” She’s glad there are companies that are willing to help her expand into other areas… if that’s where her life carries her.
Listen to my whole conversation with Alexis here: Westerhausen.mp3
2009 Novus International Undergraduate Networking Day Photo Set
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While the students taking part in the Novus International Undergraduate Networking Day got lots of practical advice and a firsthand look at the operations of some of the biggest and best agri-businesses in the world in the form of Novus, Pfizer and Monsanto (all conveniently located in the St. Louis area, some of the most valuable education these Missouri Colleges Fund scholarship recipients got was the intangible advice handed down.