When it comes to sending an email, Bcc and the undo button are your best friends.
Seriously. This is one of the many important lessons I learned this summer as an MLK Scholar with Boston Partners in Education. Even though working in the Boston Partners office was not my first job, it was a very different experience from my last job as a camp counselor.
At camp, you learn things like never to wear a long sleeve in the summer — even if its raining. In the office, you find out whether sitting at a desk all day is a career option for you.
And despite accidentally sending an email to our entire building, there were many parts of this job that made me want to come back every day — like being able to go around the community and talk to community members.
“No personality was the same but there was a place for every personality at Boston Partners and that’s what I liked.”
MLK Scholars Jasmine and Jaylah “photobombing” while flyering around Boston
One reason why I chose to spend my summer at Boston Partners in Education was to work on my speaking skills. Before starting this job, my speaking skills weren’t terrible but they needed work. Having to go into the community and talk to people who only have less than a minute to talk forced me to get right to the point.
When I worked with kids, I was able to ramble on about anything with them. That might be fine at summer camp but when interviewing for a job or presenting yourself to a college, you don’t have a day or even a few hours to let them know who you are. It’s important to learn how to talk to different groups of people.
There is one thing summer camp and an office have in common though: the support system. There was never a moment in the six weeks that I spent with Boston Partners when I felt uncomfortable or out of place. No personality was the same but there was a place for every personality and that’s what I liked. Normally when I enter a new place it takes me a while to open up but given that I only had six weeks to spend here, that wasn’t an option.
I like to think that I learn a life lesson everywhere I go. At summer camp, I learned about kids and who they were. As a Scholar, I learned who I was and how others worked — things that I never would have seen myself learning. I’m grateful for all these experiences.