I’ve been home for a week now and it’s finally settling in that I’m here to stay … at least until December 17 when I cross that stage. đŸ˜‰
As I was coming back home it truly felt like I was just coming back for a few weeks to visit everyone and then I was going to jump on a flight and head back to the UK. I loved the work environment I was in in London. The work culture is much different in the UK than it is here in the States.
For a few reasons:
- Space is limited and at a high cost, therefore, everyone works right beside each other at their own work station
- In the States we keep our private and professional lives very separate, however, in the UK your coworkers know about your family and have probably met them
- You create strong relationships with your colleagues and it’s normal for the entire office to grab a drink, lunch or quick bite to eat after work together
These were all different and strange to get used to, but I ended up preferring this different style of work culture.
What’s next?
Here’s the big question that I have heard more times than I have fingers on my hands, “What are you going to do when you graduate?” Nothing gives me more anxiety than this one question and when I think I’m more funny than I really am I respond by saying, “I don’t know. I suppose I should find a job, I think that’s what people do?” but this summer has given me a more clear vision of what I want. Going into my summer I saw myself taking two very distinct career paths: finance or leadership development. I have been a board member for Heartland Leadership Initiative (HLI) in Stevens Point the last three years and I have a heart for the community service work and the work for HLI lead me to a year-long internship opportunity in Atlanta with the largest leadership company in the US. I thought I was going to take this opportunity when I graduated until I had my internship this summer. I was doing research on investments and nerdy analytics that would bore most people, but excited me! The work was challenging enough to keep my interest, but not too much where I wanted to give up. My heart will always be to serve people and to raise leaders around me but intellectually I’m interested in the excitement of investments.
To answer the question, what’s next after I graduate? I have no idea where I’m going to live or who I’m going to work for, but I know what career path I’m going to reach for the stars for.
This trip was more than I ever expected it to be and I’m thankful that when I was debating if it was worth it that I took a leap of faith. Â I traveled to Germany, Austria, Ireland and England, made new friends while visiting my old ones in Ireland, gained even more confidence in myself, expanded my professional network, and by boss offered to help me find a job in the UK through his connections if I wish to return.
I have to say thank you to my parents for giving me the world, Eric Yonke and rest of the people in the UW-Stevens Point Office of International Education for the work they put into organizing the program, the School of Business and Economics for preparing me to be able to hit the ground running on an internship that I had little experience and just my education, ANGLO Educational Services for helping me find an internship and The Route for mentoring, employing and taking a chance on a small town girl from Wisconsin. I am forever grateful!
That’s a wrap.
Cheers!
With love,
Miranda
Miranda Resch ’16 is a business administration-FIRE and Spanish double major at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.