When Kate VanderLoop began her first year as a pre-business student last fall, she, like many students, had questions about her future. She knew she wanted a dynamic, people-centered career, but wasn’t sure what that could look like in practice. That’s when she turned to the Career Exploration Center (CEC).
With the help of an academic advisor at the Cross-College Advising Service, she set up an appointment with the CEC to explore her interests further. There, Kate met with CEC Career Advisor Ryan Bouchard, who helped her begin to connect the dots.
“I walked into the meeting feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and just like there was a huge weight on my shoulders because I felt like everyone around me knew what they wanted to do,” she said. “It was so helpful to have somebody to kind of put the puzzle pieces together for me.”
During their conversation, Kate shared with Ryan her passion for working with people. That insight led them to the School of Human Ecology (SoHE), where she went on to declare her major in Consumer Behavior and Marketplace Studies – a path she hadn’t even heard of before her trip to the CEC.
By spring semester, she was taking classes that felt right. For the first time, she was learning about topics that excited her, and it showed.
“My first textbook chapter I opened, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m actually interested in what I’m learning about,’ which had not happened all of first semester,” she said. “That was probably my eye-opening moment where I [felt] like this is what I’m actually ready to be doing.”
Before finding her path in SoHE, Kate also looked at majors in the School of Education and School of Journalism and Mass Communication, along with the pre-medical track during her meeting. She was shocked at the variety of majors she hadn’t known existed.
“Even when we were talking through majors I didn’t end up wanting to do, it still was such good exposure to everything Madison has to offer,” she said. “I’m continuing to take classes that are way out of what I think I want to do just to keep kind of exploring [because] I feel like exploration should be continuous.”
For Kate, exploration looks like trying new things. Taking a variety of classes in her first semester allowed her to think about career exploration differently. What started as a search to find the “right” major became a lesson in trusting herself to keep learning and adjusting as she goes.
“It all brought me to the mindset that things can change…and that nothing is set in stone,” she said. “Going in [pre-business] and then switching it up honestly just showed me how flexible you’re able to be, especially in a college environment where this is your time to just try a million new things.”
While she approached her career advising appointment feeling overwhelmed, she left with a sense of direction and excitement – finally feeling like she was in the right place, doing the right thing.
“I’ve never [walked] out of an advising appointment feeling negative or not feeling better about what was going on,” she said. “My absolute number one piece of advice would be just make the appointment…you walk out feeling so much more sure about what you’re doing.”
Story by Madeleine Heu