By Jacob Nelson
Mandi Glowen, the new assistant director of EPICS to support the MSLCE program, is no stranger to helping students succeed in careers.
She’s spent about five years working in career counseling for students in a variety of roles. She began in Northwestern’s Career Advancement, where she worked for four years before transferring to EPICS. During that time, she has refined her collaborative approach to helping students figure out how to achieve their goals.
“I really want to put the onus on the student, but I’m absolutely there as a partner, to help them establish goals and a plan to get there in a collaborative environment,” Glowen said. “I try to help them come up with some strategies and some steps to make sure they know how to do be successful.”
It’s a skillset that will be tremendously useful to Glowen as she steps into her new role as MSLCE assistant director. Along with associate director Jonah David Zeiger, Glowen will be working to teach MSLCE students the importance of professional development and helping them figure out their short and long-term career goals. She’ll be there as students learn what options await them when they get their degree, and she’ll be there to guide them when they find their passion and need guidance for how to make it happen.
“Student at some point will have a lightbulb moment,” Glowen said. “That’s when I love what I get to do because something excited them, and that’s really cool for me, I get to know them a little better and get to help them be successful.”
Glowen will also be working with Zeiger to plan the MSLCE treks to Los Angeles and New York, as well as the speaker series events, as well as on-campus workshops and site visits to Chicago businesses. Glowen hopes these initiatives will help students turn their creative interests into concrete, professional goals.
“We can walk that unknown together and build a plan that students feel comfortable with together,” she said. “There’s not one path for everyone, and that’s what I’m most excited about.”
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