Guest Lecture: Elyse Mullis

I am getting ready to enter into my second semester as a junior at UNCG. I remember when I was a freshman and everyone told me that the next four years would fly by. I wasn’t very convinced after hearing that so many times but now I know what everyone was talking about. The past two and a half years are now a blur to me. As years have gone by, I have adopted more responsibility and learned a tremendous amount about myself. As my senior year quickly approaches the main thing on my mind now is where I am going to get a job when I graduate. Where do I even start? After hearing Elyse Mullis speak in class today I feel more comfortable that there is something out there for me and building a career isn’t as impossible as it seems right now. Elyse just recently graduated and already has a job that she seems happy and confident in. The best part of her speaking today was being able to relate what I learned in my CARS courses to what she does on a day to day basis at work.
Elyse attained an internship at the Greensboro coliseum right out of college and shortly after was offered a job at Westminster Fibers. This really shows the importance of getting an internship while in college and building relationships with people. The concept of networking is essential to us as college students. Elyse stressed this idea and explained how she went about networking with people she knew, for example, her college roommate. She also talked about how she really had to prove herself during her internship and show that she was dedicated to whatever task was assigned her and that she could do it well. Additionally, it was comforting to hear that she is still learning new things and that you don’t have to be perfect right from the start. Elyse has a job now that would be a dream job for me. Graphic design work and putting together ads for designers is something that I am really interested in. It was exciting to be able to see an example of a strike-off first hand and hear her talk about color chips and lab dips. These are some topics that I have learned about just this semester. I enjoyed seeing pictures of the Westminster Fibers Booth at the International Quilt Market because, again, we have recently learned about booths at apparel marts. I don’t know how to sew and that certainly has never been my forte, however, I liked how she took fabric from work and made them into things that she uses in her personal life, like handbags and aprons. The most surprising thing that I heard today was that she has created a blog for Westminster Fibers, and how important they seem to be in the work force. Blogging has been something that I have done for school for a couple years now but I never imagined that it could be an idea that I carry on into my career. I wasn’t aware that blogging is such a big deal outside of the realm of college students.
I enjoyed listening to Elyse Mullis speak but more importantly the feeling that I got from hearing about her experience in finding a job was what I took with me today. Sometimes it is hard to image what life out of college is going to be like and it was so nice to see someone who has made that transition and has done it successfully.