Many students believe the popular paths for graduates are further schooling or entering the workforce. Yet other graduates anticipate a more non-traditional route, which includes taking a gap year, entrepreneurship and career shifting.
Carol Dudley worked at Howard University for 46 years as the director of career development in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and as the employer relations manager. She received her Bachelor of Science in speech-language pathology and her master’s degree in organizational communications.
She said the non-traditional post-graduate route can involve any educational path that deviates from the immediate and full-time transition between degrees.
“Many do not have the time, desire or funds to enroll in traditional graduate programs of study,” Dudley said. “The need for more flexible, industry-focused and personalized designed curricula are what these young scholars are seeking in their quest for career escalation.”
The former career counselor mentored many Howard University students and witnessed them successfully pursue non-traditional postgraduate routes, such as certificate programs, MicroMasters programs and more.
“I’ve always been a person who’s been super academically driven and focused, but for my own mental health, I decided I wanted to take a gap year,” said Meilani Barcinas-Dixon, a graduating senior psychology major from Long Beach, California.
Though she is excited to graduate, she said she is a bit anxious as she is currently facing some difficulties with Howard.
“I haven’t seen any of my program completion acceptance and…I haven’t been receiving any of the senior emails, even though I have more than enough credits to graduate and I filled out everything,” Barcinas-Dixon said.
Barcinas-Dixon mentioned the job market, stating that though it’s a little discouraging, she doesn’t let it deter her from applying.
As she plans to focus on cross-cultural psychology and knows she needs a PhD to pursue this field, Barcinas-Dixon seeks to get some rest before her next few years of schooling. She is planning to travel to gain more insight into culturally relevant therapeutic practices while continuing to build her network.
“I didn’t want to burn myself out and not put my all into the actual research and work that’s required of getting my PhD,” Barcinas-Dixon said. “I want to be able to get outside the country and actually experience what psychology looks like in different countries to get that cultural context that is needed.”
Olivia Brown is also a graduating senior majoring in public relations from Chicago, Illinois. Brown is currently in the interview process, seeking jobs in the sports industry and production studios. Throughout this process, Brown has replaced her worry with a willingness to let things fall into place.
“I was so under the mindset of having to have it all figured out by April, but as of right now, I’ve allowed myself to be okay with allowing God to control what happened,” Brown said.
Though Brown is in the interview process, she has some stability as she currently works as a social media manager for a NASCAR driver and will be working with them until the end of the season in November. Awaiting to hear back, she isn’t discouraged if things don’t go the way she intended.
“I have a really strong support system at home, so what’s great about that is they’re okay with me coming back home sometimes,” Brown said.
As a Howard legacy, Brown seeks to make her family proud, recognizing the significance that being a legacy holds.
Alysha Cobb graduated from Howard in 2004 with a degree in broadcast journalism. Though Cobb’s senior year was a bit different, she recalls looking forward to attending American University for graduate school.
“I had just had my oldest son the year before, in my junior year. One of the highlights was him getting to walk across the stage with me at graduation,” Cobb said.
When referencing the job market during her time as a senior, she said there were always numerous internship opportunities. She said Dudley helped her with her resume and enabled her to make strong connections. Originally planning to be a talk show host, Cobb had a change of heart.
“Once I finished at Howard and migrated back home to Tampa, I got involved in event planning, and eventually segued into travel and logistics for festivals and concert tours,” Cobb said.
For the past 20 years, Cobb has operated her own licensed travel agency called “AC Global,” which handles travel and logistics for large-scale concert tours. She mentions what she was able to take with her from Howard in her post-grad journey.
“One thing I think that Howard did a really good job of preparing us for is that nothing felt impossible. So the things that should have been considered hard didn’t feel hard to me,” Cobb said. “I just knew that if I had created a plan, I could get it done.”
Brian Clark is also an alumnus from the class of 2006. He graduated as a marketing major from Chicago. When it came to his profession, he wasn’t certain what he wanted to be, but he knew that his marketing background from Howard held some weight. Despite having studied marketing, it wasn’t his passion.
“Coming out of school, I did account management for Pepsi and I was in Newark,” Clark said. “Once I started coming, I’m like, ‘I don’t want to be here. This is not for me.’
So, I did it for about four or five years. I intentionally stayed in the roles that I knew.”
Clark always wanted to be in the public relations field, so when he got the opportunity to work in the industry through a producer he knew, he took the job without pay.
The producer brought him in and seven years later, he was doing public relations marketing for McDonald’s. McDonald’s started losing its account and losing money, prompting a restructuring that ended with Clark getting laid off.
Clark’s cousins in New York did real estate. Based on his personality, his cousins thought that he would be a perfect fit for real estate, so Clark got his license and is now an entrepreneur.
“In 2017, I met my current partner. He was looking for a property, and I was a broker for the property,” Clark said. “We connected, talked for hours and next thing you know, we’re opening up a bar in the middle of the pandemic.”
He and his partner, Troy Berry, opened 4West Lounge, a black-owned LGBTQ+ establishment in New York. Though Clark wasn’t very open about his sexuality during his time at Howard, he said the nights that he spent surrounded by people like him gave him vast freedom.
“I remember going out and I never wanted people to know about it,” Clark said. “But the freedom that I felt to be out in spaces where other people are like me, whose family may not know about them, but they have a community of people that they can identify with to know that it’s okay.”
Brown said her time at Howard taught her to embrace her Black identity. She said that
a lot of the time, entering spaces such as sports broadcast journalism, people might try to “dim the light” of a Black woman. Brown plans to use what she has learned in the classroom to help her navigate tough spaces in her anticipated career.
“Being at Howard, with the classes that I’ve taken, being able to be in a room with other strong, powerful Black women…,” Brown said. “Attending a university that prides itself on offering fantastic opportunities for women of color, specifically Black women, is so empowering.”
Cobb also spoke to the power of networking she took away from Howard. She mentioned that one of her first opportunities in entertainment and event planning came from one of her best friends at Howard, who owns a business.
“The biggest thing that Howard’s taught me is just to make sure you network,” Barcinas-Dixon said. “Put yourself out there, even if you’re uncomfortable. If you put yourself out there, you never know what you’re gonna get, and sometimes it’s really good.”
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