Natalie HarringtonThe John L. Holland Award for an Outstanding Young Professional in the Field of Vocational Guidance and Career Development
Academic Program Officer College of Business Administration Career Services Office Kent State University Natalie Harrington would tell you that career advising found her. She attributes her ability to support students in finding their career passions and having conversations on a diverse set of fields to her own winding list of occupational adventures. From a family owned business, food service, retail management, accounting firm technical writing and real estate, to sophomore and senior English education in inner city schools, she is grateful for the challenge of finding her own fit, so that she can better empathize with those who still seek theirs. After receiving her undergraduate degree in Secondary English Education from Judson University, and teaching for four years, she decided that a traditional classroom was not her forever home. She enrolled in the Higher Education and Student Personnel Master’s program at Kent State University (from which she will graduate in spring 2018), seeking different ways to utilize her passion for working with students. She secured a split graduate assistantship with the CoBA Career Services Office and as instructor for Career Navigation (a course integrating CCI to assist students in choosing their major and future occupations). In her first semester, she had the opportunity to study with Dr. Savickas in his career counseling course and was trained in the fundamentals of CCI and Holland Code. Discovering that she is an RSCA ,and how that intersects with her narrative, was identity forming and self-perception changing. Since then, Natalie has been on a mission to bring that sense of self-understanding and discovery to students through one-on-one advising appointments and classroom workshops integrating life design. She is elated and incredibly thankful to attend the Career Construction Institute and receive the John L. Holland scholarship. |