By Crystal Cory, CPDC Undergraduate Career Coach
Dear University of Utah students,
We don’t have to tell you that 2020 has been a rough year.
There has been a global pandemic. There has been social unrest. There has been the most stressful, intense election in recent memory. Changes have been made to address all of these challenges as society has tried to continue to move forward while keeping people safe and protected. And also, murder hornets and strange monoliths, because why not?
But you all know that because you’ve been here right along with us facing brand new types of adversity in your already complicated lives.
It is easy to look at the list of things that have happened in this completely bonkers year and assume that the strategy for 2020 wasn’t to thrive but just to survive; to just do what you have to do to get by and bide your time until things go back to “normal”, whatever that looks like and whenever that might happen.
But that’s not what the amazing students at this university did.
You adapted to new internship formats. You started networking with professionals, despite the fact that they might not have open positions right now. You found new ways to grow and develop both personally and professionally.
But that’s not all. You also learned how to ask for help. You assessed what was working for you and what wasn’t and made changes to better your situation. You searched for, found, and built new communities since traditional methods were no longer an option. You adapted to ever-changing situations with grace.
Despite everything that 2020 has thrown at you, and it has been a lot, you did not stop. You continued to move forward in spite of all of the adversity.
This year has been hard. So during this (thankfully) long winter break, we encourage you to take time to do some true self-care. It has been a long, hard road to get to this point, and the spring semester will likely be the same.
The entire university, including our office, will be here to support you when you come back refreshed and recharged in January. Until then, please do whatever you need to do to take a break from everything that you can.
You truly deserve it.
Always our best,
The Staff of CPDC