Speaker: Christina Igl, Career Exploration Advisor,
Michigan State University
What do you find most rewarding about the work you do?
Christina Igl: I find it most rewarding when students have light bulb moments that can be figuring out they can use the scientific method and apply it to their career exploration, or maybe a student in my internship course making connections between the kind of life that they want to live, the things that matter most to them, the environment that they want to work in, and finding a number of different career opportunities that would really make sense for them. Another thing that's really rewarding is teaching students the lifelong career skills that they can then use throughout their entire career to iterate and refine their path. As science continues to evolve itself, it's very fulfilling work, and I'm grateful that I get to do it every day.
Professionally speaking, what do you consider to be your most significant achievement so far? Where do you believe you’ve made a difference?
Christina Igl: So my most significant achievement has been developing our career ecosystem here in the College of Natural Science. I teach students to apply the same scientific thinking that they use in the classroom to careers and experiential learning. Students engage in career exploration literally on Day 1. Last year we had 600 students, about half of our incoming class, attend a workshop to create the first iteration of their career formula. I've enjoyed working with faculty and academic advisors to create an approach to careers that resonates with our science students and guides them to critically think about how their career can help them live a meaningful life.
