>>JESSICA: 0:00:02.105,0:00:05.192 Hi, I'm Jessica and I'm first-gen. [Music] 0:00:08.212,0:00:14.507 So, I am the executive director of marketing and  communications at Ivy Tech Community College. 0:00:14.507,0:00:20.684 I am a graduate of the Purdue University Fort  Wayne psychology program. 0:00:20.684,0:00:29.753 And I have a great life with a husband, a daughter, and you know, two cats and a dog, and it's great! 0:00:32.815,0:00:39.000 I felt like college was the right step for  me, or at least it was the next step for me. 0:00:39.000,0:00:45.078 But I didn't know really what I wanted to do, so it was very scary. 0:00:45.078,0:00:50.517 I didn't understand really how financial aid worked. The FAFSA was a nightmare. 0:00:50.517,0:00:54.245 It was very terrifying for me, you know, just filling out those forms. 0:00:54.245,0:00:57.440 So, yeah, it was just a very scary experience. 0:00:59.961,0:01:03.211 It was one of those things where I was figuring  things out along the way. 0:01:03.211,0:01:08.275 I mean, I remember going into a class and signing up for it, and then, 0:01:08.275,0:01:12.030 oh, it turns out that it was actually an honors class and I had no idea. 0:01:12.030,0:01:15.292 So, I was just going through, trying to figure out, you know, 0:01:15.292,0:01:19.513 like, okay, am I even supposed to be here, you know? 0:01:19.513,0:01:22.062 But at the end of the day, I did really well in that class. 0:01:24.434,0:01:25.900 Keeping accountable. 0:01:25.900,0:01:30.000 So, I didn't really understand how syllabus work. 0:01:30.000,0:01:34.226 You come from high school, and you have all of your things mapped out for you. 0:01:34.226,0:01:36.639 But then in college, it's on the syllabus. 0:01:36.639,0:01:40.787 You have to understand that, look, there's this paper due, maybe nobody's telling you about it, 0:01:40.787,0:01:44.608 but it's due, and it was right there on your little calendar. 0:01:44.608,0:01:48.846 So, really learning that the hard way a couple of times 0:01:48.846,0:01:52.159 was really one of the biggest obstacles that I had to get through. 0:01:55.468,0:01:58.149 Really it was a long journey, you know. 0:01:58.149,0:02:03.239 I went into psychology, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. 0:02:03.239,0:02:08.632 Well, I graduated, and then I ended up majoring again in English and got a master's degree in English. 0:02:08.632,0:02:11.124 And, I still didn't know what I wanted to do. 0:02:11.124,0:02:17.157 So afterward, I found myself actually back at Purdue University Fort Wayne, 0:02:17.157,0:02:20.621 where I worked for five years doing marketing things. Well, it turns out, 0:02:20.621,0:02:27.607 marketing is psychology, mixed with writing and creativity, so it was the perfect fit for me. 0:02:27.607,0:02:31.685 And it was really just a lot of trial and error that got me there along the way. 0:02:34.489,0:02:40.003 I chose psychology because I love human behavior. I love studying how people work. 0:02:40.003,0:02:43.919 And it's really helped me in this position, right. 0:02:43.919,0:02:48.192 So in marketing, you have to think about human behavior every single step of the way, 0:02:48.192,0:02:53.205 whether it's why is someone opening an email, and why isn't someone opening an email. 0:02:53.205,0:02:59.015 Why does this text message, you know, resonate with this particular audience? 0:02:59.015,0:03:06.296 It's really about how to get people to at least see the message that you're putting out, 0:03:06.296,0:03:09.676 and then leave it up to them how they want to respond to that. 0:03:09.676,0:03:14.127 But, so yeah, I just love psychology, and  I use it every single day in my job. 0:03:17.067,0:03:22.311 Make your connections. Talk to the people on  campus that know about the resources. 0:03:22.311,0:03:28.279 Here we have like, career centers that can help you from day one 0:03:28.279,0:03:34.829 to help plan out what you're going to do afterward. I think, that was one of the biggest missing pieces for me. 0:03:34.829,0:03:39.274 So, go and see them, make sure that you form those relationships with your professors 0:03:39.274,0:03:41.529 who can give you advice, who can give you guidance. 0:03:41.529,0:03:45.256 It's all about connections and a little bit of networking. 0:03:47.534,0:03:50.613 You belong here. You belong in higher education. 0:03:50.613,0:03:54.126 You deserve to be here no matter where you came from. 0:03:54.126,0:03:59.939 I know that things can be scary, but  people can help you. Allow them to help you. 0:03:59.939,0:04:03.329 And just know that this is where you're meant to be.