Well, the time has come. The Spring semester has flown by in the blink of an eye and the 2021-2022 semester is coming to a close. Although bittersweet, that just means that summer is that much closer to arriving! 

Our Peer Advisors have had a wonderful time helping you and educating you through workshops, presentations and appointments, and we cannot be more thankful to assist such a wonderful community. With summer approaching, we wanted to properly send you off with a few words from each of us about what this year has meant to us. 

 

Rolando Sanabria ‘24

Hi Everyone, 

I hope you all had a fun and productive semester! If you don’t know me yet, my name is Rolando Sanabria and I am a sophomore here at Chapman. I am a double major in Political Science and Strategic and Corporate Communication, with minors in History and Sociology. Also, I am one of the Peer Advisors here at the Office of Career and Professional Development! 

This semester (and academic year) has been one of the most interesting and rewarding for me to date. I started/transferred here to Chapman this past Fall and that has brought along a lot of transitions and new things for me to get used to. After some initial road bumps and other challenges in regards to feeling at home here at Chapman, I can now confidently say that coming here to Chapman is one of the best decisions that I have ever made. For my little excerpt, I wanted to talk about some of the lessons that I have learned throughout these past two semesters when it comes to making the most out of your Chapman experience with the hope that you can find these useful too!

The first lesson that I have learned is that it is important to push yourself out of your comfort zone when it comes to engaging yourself in activities or joining the various organizations that Chapman has to offer. Before coming to Chapman, I always saw myself as the shy kid who did the bare minimum in regards to making the most of whatever stage of life that I find myself in. However, when deciding to come to Chapman, I knew that in order to make the most of my undergraduate experience (and tuition), I had to join organizations and involve myself in as many things as physically possible. A prime example of this for me was rushing and eventually becoming an active member of Kappa Alpha Pi, which is the pre-law co-ed fraternity on campus. At first, I was initially super afraid of even rushing the fraternity because of the fear that people might judge me, but I came to realize that we are all trying to make the most out of our experience here at Chapman. My high school self would have never imagined me doing something like this, but I am so grateful that I pushed myself out of my boundaries and am now an active member. The second lesson that I have learned is that your network is your net worth. Since Chapman is such a small school where it feels like everyone knows everybody, it is important to make those connections, even if it just means you are introducing yourself to faculty or your fellow students. I have been in so many situations throughout the school year where my simple introduction in one situation positively benefited me in the long run. In addition to these connections helping you at Chapman, it could also help you when it comes to your professional career in regards to finding internships or jobs once you leave Chapman. If you want to take one thing from this, I hope that you make the most out of your experience here at Chapman, leaving without any regrets. 

 

Catthy Ha ‘22

Hi, my name is Catthy, and I am a junior double majoring in Communication Studies and Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. I started working at the Office of Career and Professional Development as a Peer Advisor in the Fall of 2021, and since then, I have grown immensely as a professional and an individual. As this semester is coming to a close, I am starting to reflect on these past few months and look forward to what I have coming ahead. 

Starting this summer, I will be interning at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, California as a Marketing Intern. As someone who’s grown up immersed in consuming entertainment and media, this is incredibly exciting for me! I feel lucky to have been offered this opportunity, but I know that I wouldn’t have gotten this far without hard work and a constant willingness to learn and improve. Prior to being a student worker at the Office of Career and Professional Development, I knew very little about what it took to break into the industry. My resume wasn’t the best, and I struggled with getting the chance to even interview for the positions I applied to. When joining the career team, I was trained in resume building, interviewing, job search, etc., and it not only taught me how to be an effective peer advisor but also how to improve upon myself. Based on what I learned, I edited my own resume. As simple as this sounds, it changed everything for me; I started getting interview requests from companies that had rejected me in the past, and it finally gave me the chance to practice those skills as well. I’ve learned that interviewing gets better with time, so while my first few set of interviews didn’t go the way I wanted to, they only went up from there. It was bittersweet when I was rejected from a position because although I had lost an opportunity, each time, I had made it farther into the process. This was all a part of the professional development that led me to where I am today, and even then, I still have a lot to learn and improve upon. Knowing this, my biggest piece of advice would be to visit the career office and be open to learning about the ways you can grow professionally. Chapman’s career team is your career connection for life, so whether you’re a freshman, a senior, or a returning alum, it’s never too late to come in. 

 

Emma Floyd ‘22

​​This year has been interesting, to say the least. There have been a lot of challenges recently for everyone, especially students. I’ve learned a lot this year from my classes, but even more from my classmates. I am what you would call a stubborn person, I’ve had my life all planned out for as long as I can remember, and this year all of those plans were turned on their head. Like so many others, I had to rewrite my plans to fit into this changing world in the midst of a global pandemic. From all of these changes, one lesson stands out above the rest. Never underestimate the value of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. For many of us in the Chapman community, this entire year has been outside of our comfort zone. From the stress of COVID-19 to the challenges of classes. Although the stress of these experiences was at times frustrating and more than a little exhausting, I’ve learned a lot from them and have grown as a person. Take the time to reflect on the silver linings this year has had to offer, whether new skills or new friendships. It is my hope that as the world continues to change, we will all be able to find the good in the uncomfortable.

 

Angel Prajoga ‘22

Hi! I’m Angel and I’m currently a junior majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. I am working as a Career Peer Advisor at the office of Career and Professional Development at the moment. I started working in the fall of 2021. This role has allowed me to gain certain skills and is an experience that I could use for job positions in the future. Even though I would like to eventually end up in the Finance department, I have learned a variety of useful skills and have been in so many different situations that I could share my story during interviews. Being an international student in the United States has been difficult, such as dealing with the culture shock, trying to get an internship or job and other things as well. As for the summer, I’ll be interning at the international banking section at a local bank back in my hometown in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

My hope is to be able to gain financial experiences and gain other skills during this internship, so that I will be able to get an internship here in the fall or start to look for jobs in the spring as I am graduating in the fall of 2022. Some advice that I would give students is to get as much experience as possible in college. Even though Chapman gives you a “career connection for life,” networking while you are in college is crucial for your future career. I have made so many connections with my peers, coworkers, colleagues, and more. Your professor is also a great asset to network with. You never know where they have worked and who they know. I am also a part of a co-ed business fraternity called Delta Sigma Pi. I’m currently the Vice President of Professional Activities, and was the Vice President of Scholarship and Awards in the past. These two leadership roles have helped me improve on my leadership skills and have built my confidence, which is something I have been trying to work on. The biggest advice that I could give to students would be to get involved and network! That is how you will make use of your 4 years in college. Good luck!

 

Ivy Magruder ‘22

To believe that this year is coming to an end is bittersweet. This was my first, and last, full year of college and I am so grateful to have gotten this time. I have seen the biggest transition in myself over this year, and I can’t wait to see where I go from here.

This year I got to take my leadership role of Lead Peer Advisor to the next level, and I strengthened my skills that have developed into a strong sense of confidence. I also realized that this was going to be my last semester physically at Chapman and as a Peer Advisor. 

My time studying and working at Chapman has been the most rewarding. I have made wonderful connections with both students and faculty on campus, and have learned so much about myself through these past 3 years. Although I am not done, this will be my last semester on Chapman’s campus, so I would like to say thank you. Thank you for those that supported me and continue to support me- to those that trusted me and sought me out for guidance, I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of your journey and can’t wait to see where you go within the next few years.

For this summer, I want to leave you with one thing- don’t forget to take a break. It has been a long, busy past year as we get back to normal and I hope that you can give yourself the grace to take a break and just live. Go do that hike you’ve always wanted to do. Take a trip with your friends. Fly to a new place. Whatever it is, just give yourself the opportunity to take a break and breathe.

Have a beautiful summer!