On Sept. 27, Fairfield students decked out in their best attire and headed to the RecPlex for the Career & Internship Fair. Little did they know it was basically the “Dolan School of Business” fair. When I first walked into the room and received my name tag, I was told to put my year and majors, Digital Journalism and English, on it as well. Then I was ready to take on the dozens of tables and make some connections. It took less than five minutes for me to realize that this was not going to happen. Everywhere I went, it had something to do with getting your MBA, working in finance or anything else related to students in the business school. While walking around, I saw plenty of my peers talking to various tables; what they all had in common was that they were all in the business school.
After talking to friends in other schools, we all realized there was nowhere for us to go. I was there for all of 15 minutes and did not talk to a single representative due to the lack of options available. It’s disappointing to prepare yourself and not have a glimpse of a future employment opportunity. As a college student, we’re all pretty busy, yet we take the time to attend important events such as this one. Waking up early, printing out resumes, getting ready and dressed in appropriate attire takes time out of our day when we could be doing work, studying or even just taking a break from our busy schedules to relax. This would be worth it if there were opportunities present, but the lack of these opportunities made it a waste of time. As a student in the College of Arts & Sciences, the favoritism shown at the fair sends the message that the University is only interested in the success of its business students. The inclusion of varied companies that could be prospective employers of students in other schools would provide a better experience.
As a senior thinking about post-graduation, this was a wake up call. How are we supposed to feel prepared for the future when we are not exposed to any options? Each student pays tens of thousands of dollars to attend the University, not just the business students; so why are we not receiving the same amount of guidance? For the business students, this was a great opportunity and I’m happy for my fellow classmates because I know they will go on to be successful. But for the University, where is a career and internship fair for the rest of the student body?
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