As my senior year begins, I’ve spent a lot of time reminiscing about my past four years and the things that I wished I had done or had an opportunity to learn earlier. I was wishing for one of these when I was in my sophomore year, so now I have a list of what I personally think was helpful as a fashion student at Lasell. Hopefully other students in fashion, or even other majors, can find this helpful!
- Don’t let your ego get in the way of connecting with your (fashion) peers.
Coming into the fashion industry, you probably have heard of the phrase that the fashion industry is a “cut-throat industry”. It is quite a competitive field, but it’s also a genuine place to find your purpose and make the best connections. Additionally, it’s a great place to be inspired by your peers and LEARN from them. I had such a hard time opening up to other fashion majors because I dealt with fear and jealousy. But, when I decided to let that go and instead learn from my peers, it gave me a better understanding of my industry and helped me build better relationships.
- Use your passions and interests to help you find what you want to do.
The saying of “loving what you do” is important! As cliche as it sounds, it’s true. Having certain hobbies and interests can definitely help you find your career experience goals. The fashion industry in particular is so broad that you can definitely find your place and passion! For me, I love being physically active, creative, doing market research, and science. As odd as these subjects are, they helped me to find my interest in the performance footwear industry!
- Do internships and network as early as you can (YES, you can do internships as a sophomore!).
I wish someone would’ve told me that I could pursue an internship as early as my sophomore year. Thankfully, during the covid-19 pandemic, I had attended recruiter panel chats and got to learn about starting internships early. This ended up helping me when I landed my first internship before my junior year of college! Although most internships will look for juniors and seniors, there are a lot of companies that are open to even younger grades. This also gives you experience in what you like and what you don’t like, just like dating!
- Ask for advice!
This can look differently for everyone one. Whether it’s reaching out for advice from your peers or teachers, or even reaching out to professionals on LinkedIn, people will be happy to share advice! This is also great for making connections, networking, and finding mentors without it feeling forced.
- Get involved.
Whether that’s joining a club, working fun jobs, or attending fashion shows and career panels, it’s so fulfilling to experience all the great things that life has to offer. Especially meeting amazing people that you can learn from and express your authentic self with. Everyone has a community, it’s just about finding it!
I wish the best of luck to the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors during this college journey. As scary as it might be, just doing the things you like while also learning is the best combination I could ever recommend.