The MacCast Unconventional — Navneet & Sammy
Navneet (’13 & ’14) always liked gaming, but now it’s her career
After spending years thinking she would become a doctor, one class at Mac changed everything
When Navneet was in high school, she thought she would eventually end up in medical school. At least, that’s the dream her parents had for her. But in her senior year, she realized she had no passion for medicine and decided to switch things up and eventually arrived at McMaster to study something in the social sciences.
“I took a comms course and I..really liked it,” she says. “The profs were very excited and eager to share what they are doing for a living.”
Making such an abrupt change to her original career plan came with some growing pains. But, now having just started as the Marketing Director, Esports, for the Golden State Warriors, she’s happy she pushed through the bumps along the way. She was even able to figure out how to turn her lifelong interest in gaming and Esports into something she gets to talk about every day after pushing a couple of profs to write her final papers on the topic.
Listen to this week’s episode of the Unconventional podcast to learn more about Navneet’s inspiring and intriguing career journey.
For Sammy (’11), a sudden move to another country was the key to finding a rewarding career
Moving to Ireland put him on a path towards a career in sales
Sammy is the first to admit that when he was a student at Mac, he lacked some sense of focus. He was working towards a Bachelor of Science, with a minor in English, and was an active member of the Social Sciences Society. But it’s an experience that, in hindsight, taught him how to approach life with an open mind and willingness to engage with the opportunities that come along.
“If I were to talk to my first-year self, I would tell him to do what you’re interested in,” he says. “Definitely do what you like, but if you’re not going to do that, at least take a look at what you’re doing and [think] about how it might be transferrable to other areas of your life.”
Turning the skills needed to achieve a biology degree into assets in different kinds of industries is something that defines Sammy’s career journey. But after working for nearly two years in the insurance industry, Sammy decided he needed something new — so he moved across the Atlantic to Ireland…with no job or place to call home. After a few short-term jobs, he landed himself a career as a Salesforce Manager for a sustainable engineering company called CubicM3.
In final episode of Unconventional (season 4), listen to Sammy share his story about how taking a big risk can lead to some amazing rewards.
McMaster has more than 210,000 alumni living in 140 countries around the world, and they are some of the most amazing people you would ever want to meet. The Unconventional podcast will introduce some of our alumni who are working — in the arts, as cutting-edge entrepreneurs, leading the way in health, education, technology and more — to make our world a brighter place in their own unique way. Download the latest episode, or catch up if you’ve missed one, on Apple, Spotify, or Soundcloud.
