Your Major Does Not Define You
Biography:
Jake Holt is a senior marketing major with a minor in business analytics at Grove City College. He is from Latrobe, PA, and has one younger sister who is also at GCC. Today, Jake will talk about the versatility of majors at the college, and how he can easily pivot his career path into becoming a math teacher post-graduation with the education that he has received the past four years.
Additional Q & A:
1. How does your academic background contribute to your transition into this new career path?
“Having a real-life experience outside of teaching will give me a perspective I can bring to a classroom.”
2. Can you share any specific experiences or moments that influenced your decision to change careers?
“I was in Christ Civ, talking about Godly vocation, and how any job can be glorifying to Him, and I was just hit with a sense that I was not in the right career path.”
3. What steps have you taken to prepare yourself for this transition?
“I’ve researched education districts around my house to figure out which one will be the best fit and look the best on a resume.”
4. How do you envision your skills from your previous field transferring to this new career?
“Being in marketing, and business analytics, I was able to refine both my ability to speak in front of others as well as using math throughout school.”
5. What do you anticipate as the biggest challenges in transitioning to a new career at this stage?
“With the need for additional years of education, I expect to take on more loans and work hard to complete all the necessary credits in just two years. Also, because I am going into math, having to take even harder math classes than I am used to will be a challenge.”
6. How do you plan to leverage your education and any relevant experiences to excel in this new career?
“Bringing an outside experience into the classroom can help students with questions like ‘Why would I need this outside of school’.”
7. Have you sought out any mentors or advisors to guide you through this career change process?
“I come from an entire line of teachers. My grandpa, my dad, my mom, and my aunt are or were teachers. My dad also went to GCC as a finance major and went to another school for his teaching certification.”
8. What aspects of your previous career do you think you will leave behind, and what aspects do you intend to carry forward?
“I’ll probably leave behind the creative aspect of marketing. I hope to take my learned skills of speaking in front of a crowd.”
9. Can you speak to any specific goals you have for your new career path and how they align with your personal and professional aspirations?
“My first and biggest goal is to get a job in the education field.”
10. Have you researched the job market and opportunities within this new field to understand what to expect?
“I come from an area that has an older demographic, so there will be a lot of openings for teachers. There is also a teacher shortage across the country, so I am confident that, with a background at GCC, I can be employed.”