On Friday, March 5th, the Office of Career Services and Pre-professional Programs hosted a Mix and Mingle event in the Ballroom of the Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr. Dining Facility at Alcorn State University (ASU).
Dr. Carolyn Davis, Director of Career Services and Pre-professional Programs, opened the event with an icebreaker entitled, “The Power of Hello! Meet a New Fellow Alcornite.” She instructed students, staff, and visitors to write something interesting about themselves that no one in the room knew about them on a piece of paper. “You never know, you may be in the room with your next CEO,” Dr. Davis said.
“The Mix and Mingle is geared towards helping students learn how to interact with one another and to give them some ideas on approaching people that they may not know,” Dr. Davis said. During the event she presented audience members with a scavenger hunt. Guests were then given 10 minutes to find out specific things about other Alcornites such as their majors, birthdays, future aspirations, and talents. “Those games and questions were designed to help students identify those areas of weaknesses when it comes to meeting new people. The purpose of this event is to nudge people or encourage them to be comfortable with mixing and mingling,” Dr. Davis said.
Brandon Toson, a Senior Food Nutrition and Community Health Science major, stated, “The Mix and Mingle has given me the chance to socialize and learn with other students, alumni, and administrators about the Office of Career Services and Pre-professional Programs. It was a positive experience to influence students to focus more on their careers.” The Office of Career Services and Pre-professional Programs is available to all students and is at ASU to help students with their career development process. It offers students one-on-one services to make sure that they are embarking on the right academic programs to help them reach their career goals and to help them find opportunities that will give them the experience that they need to transition into employment or graduate school.
Dr. Davis closed the event with Career Services’ updates and highlights. She also encouraged students to take advantage of the resources that are available and strongly advised them to attend their upcoming events which are the Pre-professional Program’s Fair (March 10, 2021), Career and Internship Fair (March 18, 2021), and the Educator’s Career Fair (March 25, 2021). She also advised the audience that there were also many job and internship opportunities available at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Land O Lake-Purina Internships and Jobs, and Washington, D.C. internships.
“This event gave me time to speak with administrators about career development at all stages. Today’s event was well organized and necessary for myself and my peers,” stated Nia Elbert, a Junior Music Education major.
To find out more information about these events contact the Office of Career Services and Pre-Professional Programs at (601) 877-6324 or (601) 877-6246. To find jobs and make appointments, join Handshake at https://alcorn.joinhandshake.edu.