- April 4, 2017
- 9:27 am
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Quinlan Ramble Reflection- Jessica Mendez
After my freshman year of going home for spring break and nearly dying from boredom, I made the decision to take advantage of the great spring break opportunities that Loyola offers. Last year, I went on an alternative break immersion, where I grew spiritually and got to spend a week helping a lower income neighborhood in Kansas City. When I returned from my trip, I naturally heard about other people’s spring break experiences. One of the experiences I heard about was the Quinlan Ramble to San Francisco from one of my classmates. When she told me about all the companies she got to tour and the life changing and fun experiences she shared with the others on the trip, I knew that I wanted my next spring break to be like hers.
When applying for the 2017 Ramble, I felt that I had a good idea of how I would benefit from going on this trip: meet professional contacts, feel out a new job market, get exclusive meetings with top companies. While I was not wrong about these things, I really underestimated the overall impact the Ramble would have on me. During the trip, I had one of those moments where you become so inspired and so impassioned that your lungs feel too large for your chest (in a good way) and you feel unstoppable. When the Ramble was touring NYC’s City Hall, we had the chance to hear from a manager in the mayor’s office about how New York is working towards greater wealth equality and standards of living. We also saw members of the corrections committee defend their requested budget. Being in close proximity to work that I feel so passionate about inspired me greatly. The possibility of helping shape a city or a nation’s policies and directly helping vulnerable populations felt so attainable in that moment. Especially when we were standing where the US’s first leaders also stood! That day helped me decide to pursue civil service, a career path that I was wary of, more seriously.
Not only did the Ramble exceed my expectations in helping me determine what I wanted to do professionally, it also helped change the way I think of professional relationships. One of the biggest takeaways from the professionals that we met was the importance of networking and building relationships. ALL of the companies we visited had at least one employee mention that they got their job by actively building and using their professional circles. Plus, all the people on the Ramble were such great individuals. The way in which the Ramble chooses its applicants ensures that everyone has the qualities of being driven and insightful, which made building relationships so easy and natural.
New York, the Ramble, and the experiences I had could be summed up with the theme of relationships. Being a business person (or civil servant) is not just about having the skills and talent to get the job done but also relies on one’s connections to other people. For many tourists, New York is a massive and sprawling city with too many people to keep track of. According to the New York professionals we met, New York is more like a small tightly knit professional community. The juxtaposition of these two statements is a testament to the power of relationships and how they can make the world seem so small and not so scary. The 2017 Quinlan Ramble to New York was an unforgettable experience that has helped shaped me for a better, more connected future.
Jessica Mendez
Quinlan Class of 2018
International Business & Information Systems