So, I know many of you have been wondering how my OPE experience has been for me. Well, finally, I am going to tell you. It's been a long, grueling, entertaining, educational, embarrassing, reflective, and whatever other big word, experience for me.
What is OPE?:
For those of you who don't know what OPE is, it is the Oshkosh Placement Exchange. It is an enormous conference that occurs in Oshkosh (obviously) and lasts about 3.5 days. There, is where candidates and employers from all over the country go to find jobs and employees. For candidates, which is what I was, we go to OPE to either find a full-time Bachelor's level job or a part-time job with fantastic benefits. My preference was the latter.
What was I looking for?:
I had a few simple requirements. First off, I needed a graduate school that had a GPA requirement lower than 3.0, because I'm not that smart. I think my final cumulative GPA was 2.98. (Because you need to know.) My second requirement was, it had to have a Higher Education type program, or Counseling because I was on the fence. As for benefits, I needed tuition to be waived. I've already got a ton of student loans, thanks to UWW, so I didn't want anymore. (How much, you do not need to know.)
Hmm, what else? Oh yeah, I didn't want to move out west. Nothing's out there but loneliness. LOL.
What is this "Higher Education"?
Higher Education, Student Affairs, or College Student Personnel, are all basically the same program, just different names. If you're familiar with one, then you'll know the other. For those of you who don't know either, the easiest way for me to explain it is this: A master's degree in working with college level students.
Whether it be in Residence Life, Academic Advising, Career Counseling, Multicultural Services, etc, these are all (mostly) Master's level, Higher Education professionals. Unless they have their PhD. But you would know that by their names. :P
Before OPE:
I didn't sign up until December. Registration opened up in October. I knew I was going either way, but I hadn't wanted to sign up because I started the year with incredible mid-mid-life crises. I kept flip-flopping between what kind of program I wanted. I was afraid of the uncertain. Anytime the possibility of failure crept into my mind, I became terrified. How would I handle it if I wasn't able to achieve my dreams? My goals? The only thing I had been working towards my whole college career?
Then there was the money factor. Registration itself was $100+. Then there's lodging. Every application process was different. Some jobs required application to the graduate school before even being considered for an interview spot. Those are a pretty penny as well.
The TIME!! For every different opportunity, I made new cover letters, edited my resume a tad, and then depending on the employer, had other paperwork to fill out.
It was an intense process that took so much of my time, and when I had thought I was done, I was told to push forward even more and keep searching. On top of everything else that was going on in my life, I don't know how I managed. I really don't.
Then came OPE Weekend.
To Be Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment