Bre'Anna Grant may be a student, but she is already making an improving the workplace for women. The St. John's University junior mentors her peers in their job searches alongside the university career services counselors, and she has already seen the students she works with land dream jobs and internships. Grant's work at St. John's doesn't stop at peer mentoring. She is also an active wellness educator and university committee member, and listening ear to others on campus. This is all pretty impressive, considering she's also spent a lot of time away: Grant has been to twelve countries in her 21 years of life, three of which she visited on solo trips.
We talked to Grant about how she got involved on campus, how she balances community work and self-care, and who inspires her. Then, she shared her best advice for young women who want to help other young women find success in their careers.
How are you making an impact on your school or local community?
I make an impact on my school by helping students with their professional development skills. As a "career peer," I play a valuable role in supporting the mission of University Career Services, serving as a resource to external students, faculty, administration and employers. I enjoy giving students career advice pertaining to resume and cover letter development, job and internship search basics, and interview tips.
What made you passionate about the project or role that's allowing you to make a difference? I love the positive impact that I can have on a student when it comes to finding an internship or preparing for an interview. I'll never forget when I was in my training session, I was shadowing a Career Advisor who was looking over a student's resume. She asked me if I saw anything missing from it when I realized the student didn't provide a phone number. At first, I didn't say anything, but I decided to speak up before the session was over. Two weeks later, I saw that same student at the job they applied for. That was the moment I knew being a career peer would help me make a difference on-campus.
How did you get in this position? Were you elected, selected, or did you start the project yourself? What steps did you take to fulfill this role?
Anyone who knows me knows that I am "on point" when it comes to going after what I want and achieving my goals. Before my freshman year of college even started, I went to a Career Advisor to have my resume looked over. It needed a lot of work, but the advisor was impressed. She recommended me for the Career Peer program. I applied online, went through the interview process, completed the training sessions and became an official peer the following semester.
What other activities, projects, or jobs do you do at school? Spill your resume!
I've always been very involved on campus. I am a wellness peer educator, a
mentor, I serve on two University committees and I was inducted into two honor societies.
What is an accomplishment you're proud of?
My proudest accomplishment is having traveled to 12 countries by the time I turned 21, three of them being solo travels.
What is a challenge that you've faced and overcome?
A challenge that I faced that I'm still overcoming is learning
how to focus on myself. It's easy to for me to get distracted by what other people are accomplishing and compare my life to theirs, but I'm always reminding myself that no two experiences are the same!
What advice do you have for women who want to make a difference at their school?
Maximize every opportunity that you get while being at college. Those four years go by a lot quicker than you think. Meet with different people and build your
network. Take the initiative and try something new. You never know where it will take you.
Who is YOUR Fairygodboss? Why?
My Fairygodboss is definitely my mother. Her strength, her compassion and her grace is what inspires me everyday to make a difference in this world. She's sacrificed so much for me specifically and I owe everything to her.
Lightning Round: What's Your Karaoke Song? "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!.
Lightning Round: What's Your Favorite Book?
"One Of Us Is Lying" by Karen M. McManus.
Lightning Round: What's Your Favorite Movie?
"The Bee Movie."
Lightning Round: What's Your Favorite Quote?
“The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me.” — Ayn Rand
