Nazareth offers different opportunities for students to prosper in their future career path. Whether it is a internship opportunity, networking event, study abroad, or a conference, Naz helps make it possible. Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the NABA Eastern Region Student Conference (ERSC), a conference focusing on career goals and networking.
The NABA Eastern Region Student Conference (ERSC) took place on October 4-6, 2018 in Norfolk, VA. NABA stands for National Association of Black Accountants and is an organization with a chapter on campus. The greatest aspect of NABA is it’s inclusivity to all majors. Although NABA, states “accounting” in it’s name, I am a marketing major and I am still welcomed as a member of the organization. I joined to broaden my network and receive internship opportunities.
Prior to the conference, the NABA board (club offices) were able to allocate funds from the Nazareth College UA Senate to make the trip more affordable, and I only ended up paying $150 out of pocket including hotel, flight, and registration fee for the ERSC. Students at Naz have a great benefit of being able to propose to Senate and receiving funding for trips and conferences. Each year, the UA funds many different clubs and organizations (you can read a little more about that in my last blog)!
During the conference, many different sessions were offered for attendees. Along with four other Naz students (pictured above), I attended three to four sessions a day, in addition to networking with peers and mentors throughout the duration of the conference. I attended sessions such as “Budgeting for a Millennial,” “The Value of an Advanced Degree,” and “Time Management,” in addition to a few networking lunches. “Budgeting for a Millennial” was definitely a beneficial session to attend, because as a college student, I would like to better myself in how I organize and spend my finances. “The Value of an Advanced Degree” was another beneficial session, because pursuing grad school is something I would like to do, and receiving perspective on graduate studies is something I value at this point in my life. The session I attended on time management provided good tips on how to further organize my schedule, along with social and extracurricular activities; advice on time management is invaluable. Lastly, the networking lunches allowed all of the attendees and I to communicate and network, which I found to be a great asset to the conference, because you never know what one networking opportunity will lead you to.
My favorite session was the career fair that took place on the second day of the conference. Many different grad schools and companies, such as Johnson & Johnson and Procter and Gamble, were present at the fair. I was very excited to have the opportunity to deliver my elevator pitch to each company that was present at the event. An elevator pitch is a 30 second sales pitch of yourself; it is used to briefly touch on your experiences and skills when speaking with potential employers. The career fair was extremely beneficial because I was able to give my resume to different companies and have a conversation with many representatives present during the fair. One attendee from Naz was even able to receive the chance to interview with one of the companies present at the event.
Nazareth College provides many different opportunities for students to prosper in their career goals. The NABA ERSC is one such opportunity that I am thankful to have embarked on. I originally wanted to attend to gain network connections with different companies, and students from different campuses. After the conference, I gained more network connections on LinkedIn, and more perspective on what I would like to do in my future. Through the different companies and grad schools that were available to network with during the event, many of my future plans are put into better perspective now.