This was the class that made me realize I had nothing figured out and all the resources available on campus to help me. All I knew was that I wanted to pursue Environmental Studies for my undergraduate degree, but I had no idea how to leverage my skills and resources to get the most out of my undergraduate experience and beyond.
When I was enrolling in my second semester of freshman year, I stumbled upon ENVIRST402, also known as Careers in the Environment. This course had roughly 30 people in its class all in different points of their college career but with one commonality: all were Environmental Studies majors.
Each week the class spent half the time tackling topics ranging from peer-reviewing cover letters to mock interviews, skills necessary for any major. The other half of the class was dedicated to guest speakers from various sectors within the environmental field. Many of these speakers were locals to Wisconsin or even alumni from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The guest speakers delved deep into their career paths and thoroughly answered questions with raw advice. These talks helped me find internships, potential courses, and even new careers.This was a special class because it was taught by three professors, Robert Beattie, Paul Robbins, and Emily Reynolds, all within the Nelson Institute, where Environmental Studies majors take the majority of their major-specific courses. I highly suggest taking this helpful two-credit course this coming fall semester before delving deeper into your major.