My CO*OP Journey
By Jairo Mata, C3 apprentice
In my time as a CO*OP apprentice, I have gained a renewed sense of confidence, while adding new skills to what I already have within me. Before CO*OP, I was in a somewhat of a career lull. It had been two complete years since graduating from CCNY with an AD/PR degree. However, I was not fully employed. I wondered when I would realize where I would belong in the end. That is where CO*OP came in.
With CO*OP, I have gained skills in Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, and Excel. Approaching these skills in the manner of an eager learner has given me the belief that I can use these skills, and apply them to where I want to work; which is in the nonprofit sector. However, being at CO*OP has made see a career in digital marketing as something to consider.
What my time at CO*OP has given me the most so far, is viewing my previous career experiences in terms of where I am at, and where I can go. I know that my path is like a gem; not polished but being refined constantly. I think that is the full sense of what CO*OP is for me. I can give myself more credit than I usually allow myself and to think in how I have navigated my career thus far. My fellow peers in the CO*OP program, who have provided remarkable encouragement and support, have encouraged much of this.
Perhaps no better encouragement beyond my peers has come through than with the life portion of the CO*OP program. This required me to get the chance to break down my personal and professional development. Recently, I’ve asked my colleagues and friends about how they perceive me based on my character and values that they see in me. Much of the answers haven’t been a surprise, but the reasons supporting those answers have allowed me to realize that I am leaving the kind of impression that is best reflective of who I am and what I aspire to become.
The best thing to approach my time left in CO*OP is to just take the advice of poet Robert Frost’s view on a journey, -which he remarked that he himself “took the one less traveled.”
I guess the path for me in CO*OP has been less traveled, but I would like to see its process and destination in its fuller view.