“This Activity reflection was a big help for me to adjust in the new environment here in Mason. This activity allowed me to know more about my major and personally me. I was able to see what can the industry may offer to me and what may I offer to it as well.”
Activity Reflection 1:
On the 5th day of February, I attended an event hosted by M.S. Telecommunications. I went together with my other classmates. The event we attended was the Second Annual Graduate “Students + Alumni + Industry Mixer”. It was held at the Nguyen Engineering Building of George Mason University and was participated mostly by students having their major in Telecommunications, alumni, faculty, and representatives from different companies in the industry. The event’s aim was to give the students the opportunity to network with the TCOM alumni, faculty, and the industry partners and learn about their nature of work and their career path. It gave us a great opportunity to ask career advice from their experiences.
We went to this event to grab this great opportunity not because attendance is compulsory for full time TCOM students and of course not for the refreshments which were very good by the way. I enjoyed the snacks and drinks very much. And about the drinks, I was surprised that they were serving some alcoholic beverages for in our school at the Philippines, my home country, alcoholic beverage is strictly prohibited even it is an official event. It was then also when I realized I look younger since the server asked to see my ID when I ask for a beer. Having those made this event even more interesting.
I have learned so much on his event and this is directly related to the field of study I am pursuing currently. In participating at this event gave me an idea on how my future might be like. I was able to see a lot of options to pursue for a career after graduation or even perhaps an internship. Though we were unqualified in some careers yet, due to some requirements such as some requires many years of experience on the field, some only hires U.S. citizens due to some security clearance, some requires two full semesters, and, etc., the industry representatives were very encouraging. They encouraged us to still connect with them and learn more about them. This was not bad at all, I take this as a heads up, this means that I still have time to prepare.
This event inspired me to persevere and to do more in the duration of my study here at this prestigious school, George Mason University. This inspired me to not only learn the lessons from class but also to think out of the box for we cannot put our imagination and capabilities in a box. This event opened great opportunities and choices to practice and enrich our knowledge on our field of interest. This influenced me to focus more with a goal to succeed not just academically but also professionally. This experience taught me also to socialize, make connections, and collaborate with others not just for our personal benefit but to all as we help and support each other. As I observed, the industries that participated there wasn’t just to showcase their individual company profiles but to really look into it, everyone connects with each other, the individual industries supplements each other. The same with us, together we should work hand in hand to improve ourselves in our profession for the community and for the future generations.