Elon homecoming weekend is often a busy weekend on campus. Many alum return to their old stomping grounds having gained many new experiences since graduating. Mia Ginea Watkins and Lindsey Lanquist are among the many alums who returned to an Elon classroom to share their post graduation knowledge with current students on campus.
Both Watkins and Lanquist are 2016 graduates of the university working in the communications, multimedia field. Watkins, currently working as a community outreach specialist for Playstation in San Diego, began as in intern for the company the summer directly following her graduation. By the end of that summer, she was hired as a contractor, and by October of 2018, she was a full time employee.
In Watkins experience, she says talking to as many people as she could has been a large influencer of her success thus far.
“I do talk to a lot of people,” she said. “People will always come up to me and say ‘how do you know this person?’ and ‘how do you know that person?’ But it’s literally just because I went up and said hi.”
According to Watkins, going out of your way to talk with as many people as you can and gaining those connections can increasingly benefit your longterm career. Another secret Watkins shared with current students was simply to, “always write thank you cards.”
Watkins not only stressed the importance of communicating and putting yourself out there, but she also emphasized the importance of a good work ethic beginning in college.
“One thing I was very fortunate to develop here (Elon), was just a very good work ethic,” she says. “Most of my time was spent in the editing suits. Literally if you couldn’t find me, I was down there.”
Lanquist, currently a freelance writer in Nashville, TN, was adamant about this as well. She started working in the Women’s magazine industry directly out of college, and after working her way around various editing and writing positions in the industry, she decided to change directions and become a freelancer.
“I was scared at first,” she said. “But now I’m not.”
According to Lanquist, freelancing was a risk. But, it has allowed her to build her own schedule, work from home and write the content she wants to write. Like Watkins, Lanquist credited her work ethic and drive in college as one of the main things that set her up to be a successful freelancer. This she says, is something that students still in college can start building skills on as soon as they want.
“The cool thing about freelancing for you guys, is that you can start doing it now,” she said.
Both successful in their various fields, Watkins and Lanquist sat in the chairs they once were students sitting in, and shared wisdom, advice and anecdotes of their experiences with Elon’s classroom of students, sparking excitement and hope in the aspiring journalists.