Life After Mac: Real stories of alumni finding their way — Samantha
Four years out of McMaster and I’m still not sure how to answer the question, “So what exactly is it you do in communications?” But if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that I do what I love — being creative, building relationships and doing meaningful work.
Growing up with teachers for parents, I used to spend my summers prepping classrooms and was often referred to as “Mr./Mrs. Jen’s daughter”. It wasn’t until I was in high school that my visions of writing “Miss Jen” on a chalkboard started to erase, when a family friend told me about her work in communications. This conversation turned into one of the most important relationships of my life, and she became one of my first mentors in the industry.
Don’t be fooled, I don’t know that much more about communications today than I did back then. She gave me just enough insight into the industry to spark my interest, but left room for me to envision and explore as I made my way through university and into my professional career. In reaching out a hand to a young high school student, my mentor was demonstrating the importance of connecting with others, something I didn’t realize would be so important not only to my career but to my overall life. Many of my experiences came from striking up a conversation with someone who was willing and able to offer me another connection to expand my network.
One of my most treasured relationships is with fellow marauder Lisa Cimini ’16, who I met during the interview process of my very first internship at a tech company in the summer of 2017. She quickly became a dedicated mentor who supported me through my final years of undergrad, postgrad degree, new roles, new industries, and everything in between. Her guidance is invaluable.
I had mentioned my first internship was with a tech company. I am someone who used YouTube to mp3 converters to download music for way too long and still has nightmares about software updates. I didn’t believe I was equipped with the right knowledge or vocabulary to speak ‘IoT’ or ‘B2B’ with executives, let alone draft press releases about our newest technologies. It was the definition of imposter syndrome! Lisa was able to share her experiences of dealing with similar feelings and helped me through all the newness coming my way. Overtime, with the support of Lisa and our team, I came into my own within tech. It’s a next level kind of pride when you can sneak in a pun into a report for a global technology company.
You need to propel yourself to success, but your mentors and team will support you along the way. Half a decade later, Lisa and I are once again colleagues at a PR agency in downtown Toronto. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to continue learning from each other again in our new roles.
During my short and sweet time at McMaster University, I was privy to many life lessons, but there are three I hang on to the most:
- Invest in your relationships because you never know where they’ll take you
- Being yourself is the most powerful tool you can bring to the table
- There will never be as great of a donut shop as Donut Monster
Samantha Jen ‘18
Faculty of Humanities, double major in Communications and French
The Office of Alumni Engagement will be featuring recent grad’s career stories to show career paths are anything but linear. If you graduated in the last 10 years and are interested, share your story.
If you are looking to get started on your own journey, take advantage of the resources available to recent graduates through our partnership with the Student Success Centre.
