{"version":"1.0","provider_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu","provider_name":"Warpwire","is_public":true,"duration":0,"has_caption":false,"views":1,"upload_date":"2024-11-14T19:34:41+00:00","description":"On today\u2019s episode we will discuss an answer, or many, to the question, \u201c Where do we go from here? Breaking thru the block.\"  \r\n\r\nTranscript: Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tHello and welcome to the What's Career Got to Do With It podcast, where we hope to provide a space for honest conversation and information that encourages the listener to take the next steps in their career journey. Wherever you are at in this process, we hope this episode will meet you with affirmation, guidance, and maybe some laughs along the way.   On today's episode, we will discuss an answer or many to the question, where do we go from here? Breaking through the block.   Nicole Mitchell:\tDuh, duh, dun.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tImmediately just had an image of the juggernaut running through a wall. I'm the juggernaut.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tAnd I was in football pads, just taking out the defensive lineman. Okay.   Nicole Mitchell:\tWelcome to your career advisors. Come see us. Brian Center, bottom level.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tYeah, yeah. The conversations we have, from Marvel comics to actual helpful hints, I hope.   Anyway, so this question, in many ways, makes me feel stuck. I think that's this ubiquitous feeling that we have is like uh oh, here I am. I'm in this environment, and I don't know what to do. And it's beyond that of finding purpose that we've touched on. It's beyond the identifying that next step or making a pivot. It's the space before that, perhaps, where you're just stuck in a scenario, a situation. So many different things that are impacting, and you literally feel like you can't go anywhere.   So for us, what is that moment? What tunes us into that? Nicole, what tunes you into that feeling of being stuck? How do you know you're there?   Nicole Mitchell:\tI think for me it's more questions than answers, where I've gotten to a point where I'm just asking myself question after question after question. I might answer one every now and then. But definitely when I get to the point of asking more questions than being able to give more answers, I know that I'm stuck, and that it's time to lean in to my mentors, my Career Center, my community to help guide me in the next steps.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI think I'm stuck when I'm not happy, and I'm always drained. That's my telltale that is it's kind of time to have some more conversations.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tYeah, I think it's weird that there's like this physiological phenomena associated with this that we actually physically don't feel like ourselves. And when we're in that place, we can't actually do the things we typically like to do, or maybe we replace the things we typically like to do with other things that are not as helpful in our lives. And I think, for me, I'm a person that's constantly moving, and I notice if I stop moving, I'm typically actually stuck, and I'm like-   Nicole Mitchell:\tPun intended.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tYes. What do I next? And so paying attention to those physiological signs, to those racing thoughts, those questions, if there's more questions, we don't have a lot of answers, and that puts us in a place of being stuck, the environment that we're in. Those all are things that help us tune into that.   So that how do we get unstuck? What exactly are we supposed to do to get out of that place? Your doctor will tell you to go exercise. And doctors are very good at that. I mean, that is fruitful advice.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tIt helps.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tJohn Green talks about all the time on his TikTok channel of taking another stupid walk, my stupid mental health. And yes.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tOh my.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tNo, it's good. We need sunshine. Those things are important. But how do we get unstuck? Where do you send students, I think, for trying to avoid that?   Nicole Mitchell:\tI think, for me, the first thing is doing a little self exploration. So there's a reason why we're stuck. We're stuck because we're ready for our next move. We're stuck because we don't have enough information to continue in the space that we're in. So doing a little self eval, and that could potentially be in the form of assessments. And I think one of the great resources that we have here that comes through the Career Center is the FOCUS 2. Again, completely free to Duke students. It enables you to go through the website and kind of chart your career, but in the same piece, it allows you to take some assessments. It allows you to take some work interest assessments, some values interest assessments, find out what excites you, find out what drains you, talk about your strength. So I think that's a good stepping stone to be able to do a little bit of inner search to see if there's some pieces that need to be tapped in there before we start and reach out to our circle, our helpful humans, our board of directors.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tOh, your squad.   Nicole Mitchell:\tSquad goals.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI think once you take that moment to do some self reflection then comes, like Nicole was saying, having those conversations. And we are absolutely here to help you in the Career Center with that. However, there are some hope for humans on campus that are in our career influencer network. Woop, woop. Shout out to Christina Plant for getting that off the ground for us.   But it's really having conversations with people who do it every day, who have a deeper insight and connection to what's going on in that particular space that you're thinking about or that you're in and trying to explore to other opportunities.   One thing I always say is find you a professor that you have a good rapport with and have that conversation with them in their office hours, not after class. They are, most times, in a totally different head space because they're in their space, and they're welcoming students. They're not shuffling and hustling and bustling to the next class. So I will say that one of those things is find a professor that you have a good relationship with that's also helping you build your network when you're having those conversations with them to see what's next, what they think, what advice they could offer.   Nicole Mitchell:\tYeah. I do want to continue to plug that Career Influencers Network. So as Duke students, you guys have access to that. And it definitely ties into our theme of career everywhere. So not only do we have, I'm not going to say all the answers, but enough of the answers in the Career Center, but the professors and staff on this campus, they have that experience directly doing something that you may be interested in.   So if you go to the Career Hub, as you explore the different career communities, you'll notice on the right hand side, it will suggest staff members that you can make appointments with through Handshake in the form of Career Center staff. But as you continue to look down, you'll see those career influencers. And these are faculty and staff who have said, hey, I've got this experience. Come in and chat with me. Let's have a FLUNCH. Let's go for some coffee. But it's a great resource directly available to you. We are continuing to recruit career influencers and definitely encourage you as you meet professors who you've been able to take those nuggets away from, nominate them to be in the Career Influencer Network. You'll see that information available to you on the Career Hub.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tShare the wealth.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tSo I'm actually going to push back on some things here.   Nicole Mitchell:\tGo for it. I'm ready.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tIs it me? Am I the drama? Some TikTok sounds never go. And also, they knew this was coming, so yeah, we planned for this. We planned for this podcast. But I think first, assessments, there's this weird thing around assessments of like, oh, that's fake. That doesn't actually tell me who I am. I mean, y'all, when I took the Enneagram for the first time, I was like that, not me. Myers Briggs, down the line, I don't... Myers Briggs, if you're listening, I was 50-50 down the line on everything. Maybe I played the test, and I didn't do it properly. But there's this stigma associated with assessments. And how can they be helpful? What are they doing? And how should we approach assessments? Should they be a one size fits all? That's a leading question. Or not?   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tIt does not have to be a one size fits all. I look at it as a skeleton. It's just an outline for you to kind of figure out what you need to do, what you are doing. It's not the end all, be all. Think about it as a test. I was one of those kids who did not test well, but my GPA was bomb. So it just gives you a, like I said, a skeleton of what to do, how to do it, but then you work it how you need to work it. I think that's what I got for you, Rudi.   Nicole Mitchell:\tI think I might need a snack, but this is going to tie into the analogy I'm about to use when I think about assessments. So when I think about assessments, I think about going to one of those sushi places that serves the sushi on the conveyor belt, and I can pick and choose the things that I want. So for me, assessments are just ways to continue to see myself and kind of plug in what my meal is going to be, what meal I'm going to try out and see if it works for me in that way.   So taking the, again, the stigma away from assessments are bad to continuing my theme throughout this podcast in that assessments are a way to continue to explore who you are as a person and what interests you or what may happen to not interest you. So don't think of it, I'm going to say this for me anyway, don't think of it as a negative thing. Think of it as opportunities, and definitely opportunities that you may have never seen before.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tYeah. I'm not not a fan of assessments. I think all of that is super helpful. And thinking through it too, there are bits and pieces of assessments that I have taken that I'm actually, I needed that language in my life. I needed those words. I think about strengths that we use, and some of the words that were used within that, I'm like, why is that happening? And then when it was explained to me, I was like, oh. Oh, I have this area of weakness, and what pain point in my life right now is causing this to happen? And that caused more deeper introspection and helped me get to the root.   Now was the whole test completely accurate? Not necessarily, but there were bits and pieces of it that I was able to use that inform not only my personal life, but also my work life. And moving forward, I think that's a good perspective to have as we suggest resources is these things don't have to completely fit you but try to take something away from them and apply it and use it and see what happens.   So now my next pushback. People.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tThat. Whew.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tCareer Influencers Network, I think is fantastic, and it's a wonderful resource. So for people that may be asking though, I have tried those steps. I have tried to reach out to faculty and even have gone on the website. My first thing too is a lot of our career influencers are fantastic, and they have opened up their bandwidth for us. So we are super thankful for that.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tAbsolutely. Yep.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tBecause the idea of career everywhere is literally having these people anywhere and everywhere. They do a great job. But also, there is such thing as bandwidth where may, or not even necessarily having the answers, and so maybe they don't get you out of the stuck place. And so what if you've talked to your faculty. You've talked to a career influencer. What else exists? Where else can we go? What's taking place on our campus where students can engage with people that may help with that process of being stuck?   Nicole Mitchell:\tI think there's a couple of places. I'm always going to plug your Ras, people that you may have not have commonly kind of gone to. So an RA may not be the first person I'm thinking about. Typically, they're upperclassmen. They have a little bit of time over you. They've had a little bit more experience. And also you get that peer to peer connection. So it takes away a little bit of that feeling of uncomfort, that's not a word, of being uncomfortable, and potentially going to speak with professors or your academic deans or things like that. So look from within that peer to peer aspect and check out your RA. That would be my little nugget.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tRas, but I've also had students have tremendous success when they linked with their orientation leaders. They keep in contact with them, sometimes past graduation. I mean, it helps build that relationship, and they're able, again, to say, hey, this is this professor, or this is this staff person. This is when you need to meet them at this point or how you need to approach. So I would say at orientation leader is also a very good person to reach out to.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tDefinitely. And I'm a huge proponent of directors of academic engagement. These people are like encyclopedia, I like to use that pronunciation of the word, encyclopedias of knowledge surrounding what's going on at the university. And they're innovative thinkers. They encapsulate areas of study at the university, and so they have their own specialties, but also in so many ways, they allow you to think differently about what you're doing. And sometimes that can be super helpful when you are stuck is just getting a fresh perspective that is completely different.   I always go back to my experience in healthcare, and there's a lot of people that end up majoring in psychology or English or something in the humanities. And people are like, why are they in the humanities? Why are they in the arts? But they wanted to go to medical school. And it's because it ignites a part of their brain that helps them move beyond stuck. And also, it allows them to express and explore different pieces of who they are as a person that ultimately move them from that place.   And so I encourage you to do that. They do recommend actually coming forward with some intention for the meeting. So don't just show up and say, I'm here. I don't know why I want to meet with you. And so it could be the prompt of I'm feeling really stuck, and I don't know the next steps that I need to take to improve as a candidate for this opportunity down the road. Or as a graduating student, how do I prepare for the next steps? Is there any resources or things taking place across campus that I can do and participate in?   Nicole Mitchell:\tAnd again, don't forget things like your academic advisors, your academic deans, your major and pre-professional advisors. All of this information is available to you at advising.duke.edu. They have an awesome website up that talks about academic advising at Duke. Again, career is everywhere, folks. We are really encouraging you to reach out to all these resources that you have. But definitely check out that academic advising website, and you can find out more information about college advisors, academic deans, peer success leaders, DAEs, major and pre-professional advisors, and then some other advising partners as well.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tAnd let me pull these two together with the DAEs and everything and the peers. There's also major organizations. Your major. Join your major organization, if you don't do anything else, because not only does that put you in contact with your peers that are in that space, it puts you in contact with the faculty and the staff that are there. So join your major organization. Thank you.   Nicole Mitchell:\tMike drop.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tThat's my TED Talk for the day.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tAnd here's mine. No.   No, just an additional resource as we continue to talk about this. I was at an advisor convocation the other day, and we had the benefit of listening to several people talk and discuss their perspective and their view on things. And in my own naivete, probably, or even in my own privilege, the things that I just don't have to think about as a human being that is a person of privilege is the different things that impact us as humans that may cause us to be stuck.   And there's people here at Duke that are helping with that. And it could be some of the people that we've already mentioned. I do want to plug the academic guides as well because they touched on the hidden curriculum and thinking through the to do list that some of us do naturally just because it's how we've always functioned in our lives. But it greatly impacts the success and progress of other people because they may feel like they have to perform for something. And so it's the acknowledgement of that and working with the resources to help kind of take out the hidden curriculum, and then continuing on our end also to challenge people who implement such things in their work. And so I want you to know and be assured that these conversations are taking place across the university of how do we kind of disassemble these things that are creating barriers and stuck points for our student populations.   Nicole Mitchell:\tI think we forgot one major one that I think is going to be super beneficial for students. QuadEx.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tQuadEx.   Nicole Mitchell:\tYeah, QuadEx. It's there for you. Literally, built out that way. So again, when I talk about that peer to peer network, that is so valuable, you'll get those experiences through QuadEx naturally as well too. So it's a new resource. I think it's a fantastic resource as you transition over from east to west campus, and you're able to, again, have that experiential orientation. There's definitely Sophomore Spark that's up. I was about to call it spork. Hello, Taco Bell. But you've got faculty fellows and social events and alumni networking. I mean, QuadEx was set up for exactly what we are talking about.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI'd just like to say that if you've been listening to our podcast, you will know that at some point we are foodies because I think we mention food every episode. Okay. Sorry, Rudi.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tAnd with all that in mind, it's time to close.   So where do we go from here? How do we break through the block?   Nicole Mitchell:\tUse your resources. Embrace career everywhere. Embrace your timing is your timing, and that is okay. But I definitely think also knowing you are not alone. You are not the only one who is having those block moments. So really kind of hone in. Use your friends. Use the people around you who are going through the same thing that you're going through. And use your resources.   \u00c4ngela Bonner:\tTalk to people. Very simple. Talk to people. You never know what's going to evolve. You never know who they know that can help you. So get out of your room and talk to people.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tI'm one of those poets and didn't know it, so I was trying to-   Nicole Mitchell:\tLet me get snaps ready.   Michael \"Rudi\" ...:\tStuck duck. And then I was like, I can't say it.   So being stuck is not a place that anybody wants to be, by no means. And I think we've all touched on this, but talking and knowing that you're not alone is so important. And if any message rings true or touches you today, I hope that you can see that there are a plethora of people that just want to sit with you and be with you through the process of being stuck.   And sometimes being stuck is so much better when you have someone sitting next to you. And so I hope that you can find that person, and I hope that we can help you find that person. And so utilize us as a resource, and we can find that place or that person, those people to be with you during this time.   And with that, I hope you join us next time here on the What's Career Got to Do with It? podcast.","author_name":"Sandhya Pakala","html":"\u003Ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/Z5UIAA\/\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media; camera; microphone; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E","height":360,"width":640,"thumbnail_height":360,"thumbnail_width":640,"url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/Z5UIAA\/","type":"video","title":"Replay: Where do we go from here? Breaking thru the block.","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/img\/10ED13AE-DB77-4E78-BDAA-21F9B14D30E1\/C49CABEA-BC14-4059-ABDE-9C56A7A9C803\/large\/"}