IQ The Compass Thursday, March 18j_ 1999
" ' ' - " - I mil I I
Career Service Office l-ias
Important Role On Campus
By Artelia Covington
Editor
Mr. Brutus Jackson, the director of
Elizabeth City State University's Of
fice of Career Services said he is look
ing for ECSU students who are ready
for the world of work, or an internship
experience that will lead to a desired
career.
"The purpose of Career Services is to
assist students with their preparations
in the areas of the careers that will ulti
mately lead to future employment in
the career of their choice," he said.
Career Planning, Placement, and Co
operative Education helps freshmen
and those who are undecided about
their major choose a field of interest,
he said.
"But it is obvious that not every stu
dent is coming and taking advantage
of the resources afforded them," he
said.
Each year the career planning office
sponsors an annual career fair designed
to give students an opportunity to meet
face to face with representatives from
major companies.
While some ECSU students do par
ticipate in the fairs, particularly seniors,
too many do not. Usually, only the
highly motivated and "hungry" stu
dents come to the fair, he said.
This means that there is a limited
applicant pool for the many job oppor
tunities that employers bring to the fair.
"These comparues come on campus
looking for students who have work
experience," h? said, "and they look at
other students also, but not as highly
as the student who has actual work
experience."
While a large nvimber of students
come to the fair looking for jobs out
side the local area, Mr. Jackson says
there are many job opportunities avail
able in Elizabeth City. His office also
has a listing of jobs throughout the
state.
"Our offices use the Employment
Security Commission as a resource
along with surveys to determine jobs
in the state of North Carolina," Mr.
Jackson said. They also compile infor
mation about salaries, internships, co
ops and limited summer employment.
A wealth of resources are available
to the student through the labor statis
tics bureau and the National Associa
tion of Colleges and Employers.
In spite of aU of the resources that his
office has to offer, Mr. Jackson says that
often students use those services sim
ply to get a last minute summer job.
Students may benefit more if they uti
lize the repository of information to
help them make one of the most im
portant decisions in their lives, he said.
One of the major falacies students
hold is the belief that a degree guaran
tees them a job. Students are not ready
for the corporate world without hav
ing first taken advantage of the re
sources available to them, he said.
Students need to have proper resume
writing and interviewing skills. To as
sist with these skills, the career office is
offering a series of seminars on Thurs
day evenings at 5:30 p.m.
To help reach more students, Mr.
Jackson is planning a program called
"How to Secure Employment". The 16-
week course wiU help students leam
how to market themselves.
In it students will leam the technol
ogy and terminology of their chosen
field. They will also leam networking,
business etiquette and dressing pro
fessionally. He would like to set up a
lab where students and alumni can re
search careers and work on their re
sumes.
The bottom line, he said, is to help
students to hold a degree in one hand
and a letter of employment in the other.
Campus Ministry Combines Religion And Education
By Kenya Grant
New Generation Campus Ministries
(NGM) was founded on the campus of
Virginia Commonwealth University
(VCU) in 1984 as a bible study. Origi
nally it drew students because of the
innovative nontraditional bible study.
It was later recognized that VCU was
not the only campus that needed to
have Bible studies providing restora
tion to students. The leaders of NGM
soon saw that every campus, particu
larly the historically black colleges and
imiversities in this nation, needed to
have such an outreach.
The group's founder, W. Wellington
Boone, focused on taking revival to
black college students, and providing
this new "generation" of leaders with
the foundations to enable them to ap
ply the Bible to every aspect and sphere
of life.
By 1990, NGM had reached more
than 40 coUege campuses, including
Elizabeth City State Uruversity. Keep
ing with the fovinder's philosophy, the
ECSU chapter understands the impor
tance of spiritual maturity.
The ECSU chapter's on campus ac
tivities include the "Tract" Team, a new
ministry created by the president, Blair
Todd, with the goal to transport spiri
tual literature about the campus of
Elizabeth City State University. New
Generation also facilitates Morning
Prayer every Tuesday and Thursday in
the New Women's Dormitory.
V
photo by Blair B. Todd
ECSU Chancellor Mickey L. Burnim speaking at the Annual Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day celebration. To his right is Ms.Tashalillett, president of
ECSU’s NAACP Student Chapter.
SiSTER-TO-SlSTER
By Monique Boyce
Columnist
Love is a powerful word with many
meanings.
It's amazing how this simple four-
letter word has so much depth. The
emotion is very fragile, but also very
strong. Today, the word is used too
loosely. When asked to describe love,
one may find it very hard. It's an inde
scribable feeling.
Many of you are in love, have been
in love or at least claim to be. We have
aU progressed through the elementary
love stage. You remember the "Do you
like me? check the yes, no or maybe
box" stage.
Then there was the puppy love stage,
where you added the letters of your
name and your significant other's name
to see if the numbers matched.
Then there was our first love.
You remember the guy that was your
"EVERYTHING." That same one broke
your heart, and you cried for days. You
remember vowing to never date again.
Some of us have graduated to the
final stage of love.
We have learned the lessons of all
the previous stages, and have finally
found our soul mate, the person that
God has placed on this earth for only
you.
Many of you may be laughing, but
that's only because it's true! Through
out love's stages there were many les
sons to leam. Some of you leamed from
those experiences, while others were
stubbom to that teacher called "life."
One thing is for sure: love can make
you do crazy things. (Take a minute to
think of all the foolish things you've
done in the name of love.)
Well, sistas, love is a well-traveled
road that has been a bumpy ride for all
of us. Evaluate what kind of Love Road
you have ridden on.
Some of your rides have been a little
bumpier than others. In order for you
to enjoy your ride, you have to first
take care of some business within your
self. You have to love and respect your
self before you can love anyone else.
Raise your self-esteem and self-confi-
dence. When you do that, you won't
let anyone take it away from you. You
possess a beauty inside, which you
have to dig deep to find.
In so doing, you won't let anyone
use love as an excuse to take advan
tage of you.
Be strong.
Ladies, hold your head up high. Keep
the faith because love conquers all.