Alumna Advice Part I: Life beyond the degree

With the final few quarters of my college career quickly approaching, the uncertainty of the "real world" is hitting me like a ton of bricks.

It's easy to plan and dream about your future while it's still far from happening, but when the time actually comes to take all that you've been working toward and put it to use, it can be scary.

In seeking advice on what life is like after college, I took to someone who I've seen as both an inspiration and a mentor throughout my educational journey, Gracie Manlow. She is a former Central Washington University student that I met through mutual friends. Last year when I decided to apply to the communications department at CWU, I sought her advice first. Therefore I thought, in this time of uncertainty, who better to ask for guidance than someone who's been in my shoes?

I recently had the opportunity to ask Gracie some questions to get a better sense of what her experience was like, and below is the result of our conversation.

What is your degree and why did you choose it?

Gracie Manlow: I majored in public relations and minored in communication studies, mostly because I went back and forth between which one to major in. Personally, I loved the program. It's fairly small; I think my classes consisted of 30 people, and you take the same classes with the same folks. I really wanted to advance my writing skills, which is exactly what I took away from the program. I learned about writing for print media, writing for grant applications, and did a lot of presentations. It is a pretty versatile field, and I feel like I took a lot away from it. As for the communication program, it definitely touches some of the same elements, but it's a lot more theory, studying types of effective communication, less presentations, more research papers. But, still, similar size program and amazing professors.

Did you have a career in mind when you graduated college?

Manlow: When I graduated from CWU in 2013, I had no clue what career path my degree would take me on. Sure, I knew I wanted to do something with communications, however, I had no idea what that would entail. I always assumed I would have no problems finding a job at a PR firm in Seattle or Portland, and my career would just take off from there.

What is your current job? In what way did this type of work interest you and how did you get started?

Manlow: My current title is a Program Specialist with Pacific County Health & Human Services. A couple months after graduation, I worked as an AmeriCorps Service member with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington. I never expected to work in the social services world, but AmeriCorps was a great professional development opportunity. I was able to provide some direct service, but also learn more about nonprofits. I took a few event planning and nonprofit classes at Central, and it was really cool to see how a nonprofit agency functioned. I really began to enjoy working in the nonprofit sector and working close to my hometown.

After my term with AmeriCorps was over, I was hired by Willapa Behavioral Health to be a grant coordinator for their community coalition, Teen Advocacy Coalition. My main job functions included managing a federal grant, building capacity among community members and organizations, and various other coordination duties. I was actually a little surprised about how often I was referring to my public relations skill set. Not only was I creating publications; I was planning events, creating strategic plans (using SWOT analysis, of course!), and grant writing.

I worked with the Teen Advocacy Coalition for about 18 months before I was hired with Pacific County Health & Human Services. While I enjoyed the ‘behind the scenes’ work as a grant coordinator, I missed doing direct service and outreach. Thankfully, my current job allows me to do a little bit of everything!