Connections

Weekly Report 10/03/2017 to 10/09/2017

This past Wednesday, all of the ISM students in Frisco ISD gathered at the Business Symposium to network and practice interviews with professionals. During this event, I met with multiple different types of professionals, and, unexpectedly, two of them had backgrounds in the law. It was so intriguing to hear about their stories of studying political science or homeland security and how they later decided not to go to law school afterwards because they realized their passions for law enforcement instead.

Seeing how this chief police officer and assistant federal homeland security director had parallel journeys in being set on becoming attorneys but later changing their career paths got me thinking about broadening my topic of law to include other types of careers that involve either enforcing or creating laws. I have definitely given lots of thought to studying public policy with senators and state representatives, but have not quite considered law enforcement with police officers and security agents before. In learning more about these two professionals who changed their minds, I have decided to explore these other fields that stem from a law path by adding other contacts to my list and branching out during my interviews to learn more about these careers. This may help me to better understand other law-related careers and see if my true passion lies in one of these instead.

Additionally, at the Business Symposium, I gained so many new connections. Seeing firsthand the importance of networking and building a base of professional relationships has helped me to realize how critical this skill is in the political world. I hope to become involved in politics someday, and the first step is definitely finding connections and meeting with people in order to continue building relationships and a support base. Even just a few professionals connections that I gained through this symposium have connected me with more contacts and potential professionals whom I could interview. I now see how important it is to network and be present in as many possible social events whilst building your brand and meeting new people. In understanding how significant networking can be, I want to find more political events to participate in, such as city council meetings, in order to meet more people and build my professional network.