BB2C Student Perspective: Maggie Clendenning
If you have an interest in a career what do you do next? Get connected with people in the industry. Maggie Clendenning, an 8th grader at Marietta Middle School, began her career exploration through the BB2C Career Mentor Program this year. She worked with Geoff Schenkel of REsolve Studios to discover possible careers in the art world and hone her artistic techniques. She also had another passion: writing. Toward the end of the school year, Geoff recognized the need to broaden Maggie's scope and she agreed to explore other Building Bridges to Careers resources. She allowed the BB2C Coordinator to come into a few of her mentoring sessions and easily shared her interest in writing. Her mentoring sessions had increased her ability to share and explain her ideas, and engage with community adults.
After meeting with the BB2C Coordinator, Maggie was asked to start a conversation with one of the businesses in the Epicenter about writing as a career choice. It was agreed by all that Maggie would come to the Epicenter to talk with Christiane Marshall, the owner of Marietta and Beyond (online magazine).
Why was this step so important for Maggie? It's quite different to bring students out of the school into the real world working environment. It can be scary and unknown. Through the work she did with her career mentor, she was able to take that next step. This past Sunday she came to the Epicenter to learn more about the programs of BB2C and then met with Christiane to gain some valuable career information. Christiane was able to tell Maggie about ways she can be earning money by writing to support herself while she is working on a writing career. Maggie learned about careers in writing beyond the traditional novelist. At the end of the Epicenter visit Maggie said, "I thought it was really different and not something I had seen before. I learned that I could make money even as a 14 year old".
Maggie returned to the Epicenter on Tuesday to work with Christiane on a writing prompt she had been given. She stated that, "It felt really good to be writing", and that being at the Epicenter gave her a place to work with no distractions. Maggie is open to having some of her work appear on Christiane's website for Marietta and Beyond. Through this experience, Maggie can begin building a portfolio of work while still in high school.
We applaud Maggie for making so many strides this year and for making decisions about high school classes for next year that will help her to be successful later in life. She has worked hard and we look forward to seeing Maggie grow even more in her quest for a career.
Interested in being a Career Mentor? Training dates are set for later in the summer. Click here to find out more.