Young professionals ‘Choose to Participate’

 

Young professionals in Tallahassee gathered at the Florida Historical Capitol Museum for the  “Choosing to Participate” event to gain vital information Monday.

The event featured three young professionals who were active participants during their college years, and whose main purpose was to let young students know that it’s never too early to get involved in organizations.

“It’s just about the importance about being engaged especially civic engagement,” said R. Jai Gillum, director of income strategies for United Way of the Big Bend in Tallahassee. “I’m a FAMU graduate and I was really involved and it opened up a lot of doors for me and my professional career.”  

Gillum then mentioned that every job she’s had in her career started because she was active and volunteered. Gillum saw that networking and getting involved took her along way.

“It’s important to be involved and have some great resume builders,” Gillum said. “It’s so many things to get involved in, but you should try to go for the things that your passionate about instead of what’s popular at the time.”

Ernst Pirrelouis, a fourth year political science and criminology FSU student from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., stressed to students that you should always do service and build a strong network that will benefit you in the long run.

Pirrelouis believes everything one wants to do in life has to be built upon networking. One must also build a quality team together and build an empire.

“I don’t want people to get confused and think they can go to college do nothing and be successful,” Pirrelouis said. “If you don’t build a network then you mostly likely won’t end up with the career you seek.”  

Among the many high school students in attendance was senior Seth Reid, a home-schooled student from Valrico, Fla.

Seth believed that this event gave insight of how young students can make their communities better and give back. Reid hopes to get involved in government and politics once his college career is complete.

“It’s easy to think what can I do for myself resume wise and how I can promote myself but I learned it’s not about that, it’s about what I can do to help my community where I’m at and beyond where at,” Reid said.