august twenty — Virtual DC
Well. This is different.
I absolutely cannot wait to graduate in the spring and move to Washington D.C. For almost three years I’ve known that’s exactly where I want to be working, and I was so excited to be able to spend a week in one of my favorite cities during my senior year of college visiting people I could be working with in a few years.
Obviously, things change. We adapt. This year has been nothing but adapting. We’ll be speaking with alumni and professionals in our industry multiple times throughout the course of the fall semester, so I hope you’re ready to read a lot more of these. This might not be the DC trip I’ve been looking forward to, but I’m remaining optimistic and excited about what’s to come. Technology is really a blessing, isn’t it? Today, through Zoom, we had a great conversation with an RIT alum (Carol Alderman — ’14) about what she’s been up to since she graduated. And wow, she’s been up to a lot.
USA Today, Washington Post, and now Axios. Carol goes where she wants. I really respect her for being able to be creative, driven, and confident enough to create jobs for herself and create work for others. That being said, she also emphasized the importance of following directions and doing what you’re told. Doing what is required you deliver, rather than what is easier for you.
One of the biggest points that we talked about was expectations. Expectations we have of ourselves, that others have of us. Carol is an excellent example of doing (and getting) what you want because you want it. She came into college ready to be a photographer, and now works as a podcast producer for Axios. As inspiring as it is to see photographers like Tom Brenner, it’s nice to have reassurance that we don’t all have to be him. Being confident in who you are and what you can do, no matter where you’re doing it, is the most important thing.
And even my own expectations might not be where I land. Who knows? My goal is D.C. But I need to learn that if I end up somewhere else, doing anything else, that’s okay too.
This was a great conversation to not only start our DC journey, but to start the first week of senior year. I’m grateful for Carol and everything she had to say, and am looking forward to the conversations to come.
