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The podcast discusses tips for college preparation. The first tip is networking, which can be done through cold emailing and using LinkedIn. It is important to start building a resume to keep track of accomplishments. Online resources, such as Internship Girl on Instagram, can provide opportunities. It is advised to explore opportunities outside of high school and gain work experience. The main advice is to not let obstacles stop you from pursuing your goals. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our first episode. We're super excited to be here and today we're going to be talking about things you can do right now to better prepare for college. So just a quick disclaimer that this is just our opinion and our advice just for everybody. You can take this with a grain of salt, you can take this to apply to your life, or you can just not listen to us at all. But please listen. Okay. So I think we need to just jump right into it. What do you think, Jian? Okay. So our first tip is networking and really getting your name out there in a community. So kind of talking about a little what I did. I just want to share the benefits I have found with just cold emailing. So cold emailing is just going online, either you went on Google Maps and just found different places I wanted to work at or learn more about and I just reached out and asked, hey, do you have a job position or hey, do you have a thing where I can help you volunteer or anything like that? And just that's kind of how I got my internship that I've been doing at this research center. I literally just, I wanted to work at a research center and I just looked it up on Google Maps, found it, emailed him, and now I have this thing I do every week where I help volunteering at the clinic. So it's just easy as that. And I wanted to help find a volunteer opportunity over the summer, like freshman year. I look to find social needs or people with disabilities. I wanted to help out, saw this place right next to my house, emailed them, and then that's how I spent my summer. Like that's just something that don't be shy to. And if you feel like you're stuck somewhere, just Google Map it, cold email them. And another tip is, or another big resource is also LinkedIn. It's kind of like this website app kind of platform where it's basically the social media or Instagram of the career world. Usually this has worked for me 100% of the time. I've used this to talk to alumni at our high school. There's this one alumni. I want to do something towards like computers, engineering. And I saw that we had an alumni from Grand River High School that went to Harvard for computer science. So obviously I'm going to hit them up. And I was like, hey, what did you do? And I was like, hey, how can I, as a student benefit myself? We, I contacted them on LinkedIn and we grabbed a coffee. And honestly, the conversations that we had were amazing. It was fulfilling and honestly really worth it to just reach out and just talk to the people around you that have succeeded in the field that you want to go to overall, 100%. Yeah, I think that's kind of like what this podcast is really about because how you learn the best is talking to people that have done it. And you can't really have the opportunity to go and talk out to people that are in Harvard. But if you use these like tools like LinkedIn, which personally I think is just cool for like a little social media platform. But I haven't really found success finding a job that way, but just definitely not a position. I've gotten interviews through LinkedIn, but I don't know. I haven't really done it. I think Tien has done, but it sounds definitely beneficial. So kind of do those type of networking things. There's something you really definitely need. And that's kind of a resume. So something you can do right now, no matter if you're like, I haven't done anything or I don't really know what to put on a resume, just start one because that would just definitely help you keep track of everything because high school is a long period of time. You're going to forget about what you think you did. 100%. Also, on the college application, one of the most common things that usually college applicants fill out is something called a common app. The structure is almost exactly like a resume. So if you start now, you're kind of already organizing everything that you're already doing. And then you can also just elevator pitch wherever you go. You meet somebody that's amazing and be like, hey, I want to work for you. Here's my resume. Take it and look over it, and I would love to work for you. Yep, that's how I got my job at Outback. I went in with my resume, and I said, are you hiring? And he's like, just because of your resume, girl. We got you. So I wouldn't necessarily recommend working at Outback, but definitely have that just started. And what I learned over the summer at this camp I did, so there's two different types of things you can have. So you have a resume, which is basically kind of like a short, sweet, simple, like kind of usually one page of just kind of like writing about yourself, your grades, your education, things like that. But a CV is something where you can, there's no time limit. You can literally start it from freshman year up or even in middle school. Like I did this thing in middle school, like I think the summer right after I left middle school. You can put everything that you've done all four years on there, and there's no limits. I like CVs because I get to put more stuff on there, brag more, you know. But just get it started, because it's hard to keep track, especially since junior year. I can barely think through a day, so definitely start that. Another thing that you can also do is look online. So everything today in the 21st century is based online. Everything's posted online. There's so many opportunities online that are really open to you. You just have to search for it. An example of this is there's an Instagram account we'll actually call Internship Girl, where it's started by this girl who wants to kind of globalize, like opportunities, like STEM opportunities, or just regular opportunities for students around the world. She posts like opportunities that are happening in like New York, happening with deadlines, or you can research with this person. So that's really helpful, but that's not the only resource that you can go. Literally just Googling what's happening around you, or I want to do research at Princeton, so let me go look on the Princeton website and look for these objects to do. It's kind of just Googling, finding what you want to do on there. Definitely, and that's something that another really big kind of core topic that I want to touch on is don't just stick to your high school. Like, fine, like, how you learn, how you figure out what you want to do, and what you want to major in, or what you want your career to be is you go out and you do things. And I've found the most beneficial things I've done to help me in my career prep is outside of school. And how you do that is you do go online, and you do cold email places. And sorry, you guys don't want to hear this, but you do go and get a job at somewhere that maybe is not as prestigious, but it's how you learn. And that's something where you can definitely, I would encourage. Honestly, getting a job in high school was one of the most, honestly, growing... Humbling. Yes, one of the most things I could have done. I worked at Starbucks for like a year. Me and my 25-hour chef on two weeks were extremely humbling, but, you know, I got through it. Honestly, it teaches you a lot about money, and just, like, kind of like handling your expenses better, knowing that money doesn't come from thin air, and that you can't always rely on your parents. Also, just, I worked at Starbucks with a lot of older people. So, like, hearing how they, some of them never went to college, and yet still, they're on a track to go in a very untraditional way. Like, nothing is really planned out for you in the future. And so, the things, the path that you kind of form is really just based on your own choices. Yeah, like, if you're in high school right now, that's not the only thing you are doing. You are not just a high school student. You literally can do anything you want, and it's hard, and it's to kind of, like, open your mindset to things outside of school because you're so focused on getting your grades right and making sure you're in a bunch of clubs. But sometimes the best opportunities are not in your high school, and you just kind of have to look outside, and you have to kind of open your mind about it. And it can be daunting, definitely, but I think if you, like, use some of these tips that we've given you, you can definitely find a lot of opportunities. Like, I don't know, I work as a scribe right now in the hospital. I love that, and all of it didn't come from doing school. Like, right, yes, I was focused on my grades, but if you only are focused on that one thing, if, like, your grades aren't doing so well, then it kind of really hurts you mentally. So if you have a job, if you have a sport you're doing, if you have this internship you're doing, you have other things to keep focused on, and it's more fun to kind of diversify things up. So, Amber, what's the number one advice that you'd give to everybody out of everything? Number one advice? I think it's just, my number one advice is don't take no as an answer because what I've kind of struggled with a lot, especially with Bird and River, is that usually there aren't a lot of classes available, and I kind of, a lot of times, compared it to my older sister, Brooke. She went to, like, the Ranch. So I kind of got, like, that little insight where our classes didn't really, our curriculum at our school didn't really, wasn't as expansive as, like, the Ranch, which is obviously because we don't have that many students at our school. But I didn't let that stop me. Like, I tried to do, I wanted to do anatomy online, and I did it over the summer at SCF. Like, there's so many options. You can do enrollment at SCF. You can, if the teacher's not so good, you can take FOVS. Like, there's so many things that you can do, and if the first answer is no, find another way to do it because you can't just let a teacher or the class pull you down from, like, your goals. Go online. Do online resources. I don't know. Just don't let a no hold you back. Go find your opportunities. Get out there. You know? My number one advice for everybody is, honestly, just get out there, take on challenges, and just really tackle opportunities because they're not always handed to you. Some people are not as lucky as others and get opportunities handed to them. Not everything is handed to you, and that's honestly one of the most harshest truths that people come to realize as adults. And so when you, when someone really wants something, go out there and get it. You need to be more active in communities and do what you really need for yourself. Where do you want to end up in the future? And just don't be scared for, like, what the result is. Like, this podcast, we're just trying this out. We haven't done this before, but it's something that we want to do, and, like, it's just fun for us, and we want to help everybody out, and that's kind of, like, where you just find little niches like that, and I think that's definitely beneficial. So, also, kind of, like, turning away from the networking, I kind of want to get a little bit into the organization piece, because that's something I've definitely, is one of my tips to best prepare for college right now. So, Tianna, can you tell us a little bit about how you stay organized? Okay, so, I use two things on two things only. I use Notion Calendar and a physical calendar that I keep with me to school. Notion Calendar is probably one of the most life-changing applications I've just laid my hands on. It's very, very recent. So, currently, we're, this is, like, March 2024, so it was released, like, at the beginning of the year, but this was, it's so life-changing. The calendar is really user-interfaced, it's so flexible, and honestly, really easy to use. Like, I actually look forward to putting items into my calendar to actually use. Do you find it difficult, like, transferring your online calendar to your physical calendar? Like, which one do you look at first? Well, I use my physical one first, because that's the one that you really have in front of you, and also, like, in school, you're not always allowed to just, hold on, let me whip up my laptop and put this into my calendar online. Right. It's not always accessible. So, I feel like that's why I have two. Like, having one physically and one online, it kind of really gets you, like, extra prepared. Yeah, and I'm an old-school type of girl. I have this calendar. I call it my agenda. I use my agenda, like, uncontrollably, and it's horrible. Like, if you looked at my agenda, and you saw the crap that goes in there, it is ridiculously unorganized. Like, I hear little flowers. It is so, it looks like I threw up on a page. Like, it's so stuffed and full, and I love crossing things out, so at the end of the week, you'll see me, like, just basically scribbles everywhere. But that's how I still organize, because I like the satisfying of crossing things off, and I am an obsessive planner. And yes, don't plan your life step-by-step, because plans never, ever, ever stay solidified. So, do what you want, but I definitely think I should plan. But anything else to add to the agenda category? Not really. Just get one. That's like, I don't even know if it's an advice, and I'm just telling you to do this one. It's, like, life-changing. I don't know how people not, like, I just see a teacher, like, say, okay, do these pages for homework, and people just, like, stare at the teacher. I'm like, write it down or something. I don't know. It kind of gives me anxiety. Like, I need to know I won't forget something, and that's kind of where, I think I got a lot of my success from. But, all right. Next tip for organization, I'm about to, personal, I think me and Tina are kind of different in this area, but check your e-mails. Because I know some of y'all have, like, a thousand e-mails in your inbox, like, on your phone. Are you kidding me? Yeah, that's horrible. Like, right now, I just got an e-mail from US Ed dual enrollment that I need to, like, complete my application thing. Like, hook it up on your phone. I have, like, five e-mails on my phone of all my school e-mails and my personal e-mail. Because, number one, important stuff goes in there. Hopefully, you're signing up for a lot of things using your e-mail. And how do you think you can reach out to places or get contacted on LinkedIn, things like that? You use your e-mail. And also, please listen up. Do not use your school, especially your high school e-mail, for any of these important opportunities you're reaching out to. Because once you graduate, that's gone. So, get a personal e-mail. Make sure it looks professional, not like flowerkitty101 at outlook.com. Make sure you get a good e-mail. And clear out your junk. Just literally sit down and clear it out. Because, I don't know, it makes you feel good. Make sure you stay up with it. And it's just all on your phone. You know, it's easy just to delete stuff. And, yeah, definitely make sure you do that. I think that's definitely a really important step. So, how's your inbox looking? Um, it's pretty bad. Bad, yeah. I'm really, like, a personal call-out for me. I have, like, a thousand pending. I get notifications every day that my story is in school, so. No, but it's so fun, because I sign up for all the college board, like, alerts. So, I get in colleges e-mailing me. It's a good, like, ego boost right there. Yeah, so, I definitely think you should do that. Okay. I think we should kind of talk more about, in high school, like, you want to talk about your teacher? Oh, my God, yeah. Or super teachers. Okay. So, I guess our last subject of today? I don't know. We'll see where we end up. Our last subject, or maybe last subject of today, is just making good connections, honestly. Your biggest or most readily available connections are your teachers and educators around you. I feel like you could get yourself really connected with your adults in your life. They have so many opportunities. Like, sometimes, your teachers will nominate you for scholarships. You need a letter of recommendation from your teacher. All of that is so dependent on your relationship with your teacher or relationship with a mentor in your life. When you apply to college, 100 percent, you're going to have to ask for a letter of recommendation from somebody in your life. So, really forming those connections. Literally, you could just answer questions in class, just have simple conversations. It's really just building those connections that really help you out in the future. Yeah. You don't have to go teacher's pet level like some of us do, but just talking to people, talking to your teachers, talking to your counselors, talking to your friends and your upperclassmen. The only way to really know what to do is you have to talk. Does you get advice about curriculum? How's the teacher? How's her teaching style? What's her workload? Or kind of finding where just get advice. Definitely one of the things that we want to help with is just don't hurt to ask. I know if you're a brainer in high school, this Hatch Pass is a great resource for anything college related. And college is confusing. College applications are confusing. So, you definitely really have to just kind of network in that way and talk to people. And I kind of want to wrap it up with this very, very important kind of thing we need to touch on, is competitiveness that we see in school will be a downfall. Because for me personally, I am very competitive. And I struggle with, compare myself academically. And you kind of get this, I don't know what word I would use to say it. No, like more of we're like, oh, she's doing this. I mean, oh, I have to do more. Or she's, they're doing this. I need to, I can't believe I'm not doing this. And you kind of compare yourself a lot. And it's really just, where things like this for college, like asking for advice, don't gatekeep. Help your people out. Because in the end of the day, life is all about other people and the students that you work with. Because, yeah, you can, for maybe like what, class rank? They're your competition, but everything else, you're together. And class rank doesn't even matter. So, help people around you. Give advice. And that's how you find opportunities. You talk to other people. So, anything to add on that? Look out for our mental health episode. Yeah. How Muntian battle competitive comparisons. Anyway. Anyways. So, next step video. That's a wrap for today. Let us know your thoughts. Email us. I don't know. Hope you guys are listening to this and enjoying it. We have some more episodes on the way. What did we say? Like once a month? Yeah, maybe once a month. Okay. We'll see what we do. Okay. Shannon and Amber out. Bye.