Alumni Diaries: Sarah O'Brien
Written by Sarah O’Brien
Each semester at College for Social Innovation we receive the invaluable assistance of multiple Semester in the City program alumni who we call Ambassadors. In addition to their coursework these amazing individuals help us with recruitment efforts at their educational institutions, sharing their SITC experiences with classmates, and helping us find the next generation of problem-solvers for future semesters.
We recently reached out to our Spring 2021 Ambassadors asking them to help share their Semester in the City stories; our following blog post was written by Sarah O’Brien who was a part of our Spring 2020 Cohort and is a student at Clark University; check our her story below on how SITC made an impact on her academic career and future career goals!
Enrolling in Semester in the City continues to be the best decision I have ever made. Through Semester in the City, I was able to develop professional relationships and career-focused confidence to guide me through my college graduation and beyond. Before moving to Boston for 3 crucial months, I felt unprepared to leave Clark University and jump into the job market. I resented the idea of working 9-5 at a desk job, commuting, and wearing shoes other than Converse high tops for the rest of my life. More importantly, I didn’t feel like I could make a real impact in the field that I was interested in as an individual.
“Enrolling in Semester in the City continues to be the best decision I have ever made.”
Semester in the City is a carefully crafted experience that not only grants undergrads the freedom to make mistakes, but also holds your hand to learn from them. For my internship, I was placed in a global non-profit called Leading Cities. My mentor, who also acts as the founder and CEO, worked one on one with me to find a meaningful place in his organization and build my professional skills. At the same time, I attended two Semester in the City courses that supplemented my internship experience through learning about social systems and professional skills.
Similar to the first week of freshman year, I could feel myself changing in real time. For the first time in my life, it wasn’t difficult for me to wake up at 7:30 in the morning. And in terms of my worst fear, I actually looked forward to my 45 minute commute into downtown Boston.
More than anything at Semester in the City, I learned that if I am doing what I love with people that I love, it is easy to wake up in the morning and go to bed late at night. And if that isn’t enough to keep myself pushing for the rest of my college experience and young professional life, I’m not sure what will. Because I am no longer afraid of graduating. Instead, I am jumping out of my skin to graduate early, so I can continue to chase the feeling that my semester in Boston showed me. A feeling of a purposeful life and an impactful job.
I won’t toot my own horn here and say these accomplishments have been my own. I would not be able, at 20 years old, to move to Boston and start a job on my own. It was because the fantastic Semester in the City staff literally showed me the ropes of the T, hand-picked an internship they knew I would excel at, and continued to support me along the way.