Advice for students everywhere

By: Alli Donovan, BS’18

As students, school is one of the most important things in our lives right now.  That’s the goal: to finish school and get a job that will kick-start the rest of our lives.

I have noticed a large trend that many students are constantly stressed, constantly worried, and constantly comparing themselves to other people.  I am guilty of this myself.

As president of the Women in Business organization within the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI, we have had a few guests come in this semester to speak to our club.  The professionals take time out of their day to speak to us about their company, their experiences, and, most importantly, to give advice.

I would like to pass on the messages that our guest speakers gave us, to hopefully give other stressed-out students a little bit of extra hope to finish out the remainder of the semester strong.

One of our speakers was from the company Umbaugh, which is a financial firm that provides financial guidance to cities, towns, townships, counties, utilities, schools, and more.  Along with providing guidance, a large percentage of their role is to resolve financial issues that community leaders face, which in return, will improve the quality of life in the communities.

Kathy Cruz’s message was all about saying no. Cruz is the recruiting manager at Umbaugh.

Many students become stressed simply because they are taking on too much in their daily life. Some people simply say “yes” to things they do not want to do or have the time to do, so that they are not letting other people down.

With the Just Say No message, our members listened to Kathy tell us advice about not overextending ourselves in our work, school, or social lives:

• Saying “no” to others often means saying “yes” to yourself.
• Saying “no” means you are taking control of your life.
• Saying “no” gives you time to pursue other interests & try new things.
• Saying “no” allows you to set your own priorities and boundaries.

I completely understand!  Saying “no” seems like an awful thing to do.  But, as students, employees, and people, we shouldn’t be agreeing to requests by others simply out of guilt or obligation.  Many of us will soon become burnt out or get the feeling that we are being taken advantage of.

Kathy reminded our members that being overloaded is individual.  Do NOT compare yourself to what others are doing.  Focus on what matters, take your time before committing to something you are unsure about, and if you decline, look at it as a tradeoff and NOT a missed opportunity.

Another important speaker who came to speak to our organization was Sarah Glitzer.  Sarah is a professional coach, facilitator, motivational speaker, and owner of Sarah Glitzer Consulting.  She specializes in coaching individuals, teams, and businesses to identify their strengths and to use them to elevate their performance to successfully reach goals.

Creating the life you love was a very powerful message that Sarah expressed to us.  She described struggles with her own life, but asked us to remember how many people often struggle in life in various situations as well.

Sarah created an environment for our members that made us really reflect on our own lives.  She wanted us to be open with ourselves in order to think about what would changes our lives for the better.

Some of her advice was…

• Know what excites you
• Know yourself
• Get out of the way!
• Make a bold statement
• Honor yourself

This was one of the most passionate and heartfelt speeches I have ever heard.  An hour flew by listening to Sarah Glitzer speak.  She recommends to all individuals that we discover our defining purpose.  Find what makes you tick.  And to find what makes you tick, you must know yourself.

Once you find yourself, take everything negative out of your life.  Take the routines, excuses, and negativity that you or others put on you, and get it out of your life.  Make a bold statement by taking risks and keeping your support system nearby.

Finally, honor yourself.  With all of this information, none of it is worth it if you don’t stay true to yourself.  As students, many of us get scared or anxious if others have their lives figured out and we don’t.  We need to keep pushing ourselves to be the best we can be but not be afraid to fail.

To all my fellow students: Just a few more weeks left of the semester!  You can do it!!

And to those students graduating in May, don’t fret!  Just finish the semester, and be the best you that you can be!

Thank you very much to Kathy Cruz from Umbaugh and Sarah Glitzer from Sarah Glitzer Consulting for providing the Women in Business organization with such amazing advice and encouragement.  We will definitely hold on to it.