Careers for Justice
by Shajaya Martinez
July 13, 2015
When people find out I am a college student, they ask me two vital questions:
What is your major?
What are do you want to do after college?
I have given a myriad of answers, depending where I was in life at the time. But now that I will be entering my junior year of college, people expect thoughtful answers. It helps that I have contemplated these questions and have the next two years of my life planned out by the minute. When I convey to people that my major is sociology, most are not impressed, but confused. I get questions like, “What is sociology?” “What career field does that fit?” or an “I wish you good luck” side-eye. And it gets interesting when I tell people I may like to work in union labor, immigration law, public policy, community organizing, or non-profits. This is where people say, “Well, you know it’s hard to find a job,” “Those fields don’t pay much,” or “It’s hard to pay for law school.”
I’m a first generation Latina, and no one in my family came home from work and talked about how much they loved their job. To my family, a job was just a source of income. Consequently, when I began my freshman year at DePauw I made it my purpose to find my passions and only hope I could make a living. But this goal only seemed unreachable the more I thought about it.
Until I began my internship at Women Employed. Women Employed has given its summer leaders the opportunity to meet professional women who are passionate about their jobs. It is refreshing to find that the majority of these women didn’t really know where they would end up. Seeing this has reassured me that I too can find my niche. These last four weeks, we have meet a former union labor organizer, a community organizer, a financial and accounting consultant, a marketer, and a fundraiser. One speaker, Rachel Ramirez, is a community organizer who works at Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. It was amazing to see that she also believes in the autonomy of those affected by inequalities. I loved when she told us that the people she works with are the ones who make decisions and are part of negotiations. This principle was an ideal I learned in Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, and it was astonishing to know Rachael Ramirez is able to implement it in her career. The women I have met have given great advice and inspired me to nurture my passions and interests.
