MUSE: Opportunities abound on the Mines campus

There is no shortage of opportunities around campus. This holds true whether you just strolled in from high school or if you are dragging yourself back for yet another Mines beat-down. And for the newest Mines students, The Mines Undergraduate Summer Experiences (MUSE) seminar was an opportunity to get a taste of just what is available for them.

The first speaker, John Poate, Vice President of Research and Technology Transfer at Mines, offered advice to the eager young freshmen. “Networking is the most important thing that you do… try to get into the group of people that understand the game. That’s what I mean by networking.”

Poate also made clear the importance of staying in science and technology. He explained that the career world is inevitably going to continue changing, but as long as you keep up with it, you can have a chance. Poate urged the listeners to “do what you’re good at.” If you stick with what you know and what comes easily to you, it will only make you look better and appear knowledgeable. People will trust and respect you even more.

Following Poate was speaker Kay Godel-Gengenbach, from the International Studies program.  “Now I know you hate your e-mail, but I’m one of the reasons that you should check it,” Godel-Gengenbach joked. But, in all seriousness, emails from Godel-Gengenbach arrive on a regular basis and offer some of the most exciting opportunities available to the Mines student interested in seeing what the world has to offer. Godel-Gengenbach reminded that while traveling abroad may sound way out of a college student budget, it really costs no more than an average semester at Mines. “That’s saying a lot given where you may end up” Godel-Gengenbach explained, “and what better place to spend a summer than in Paris?”

The speakers wrapped up with Lin Sherman from the Mines Career Center who urged the freshmen, and even the upper-classmen,  to remember that the career center is available. They offer résumé assistance, or as one student shared during the question panel later, “They will do your résumé for you.  I literally went in with nothing but my name on the paper and they filled it all out for me.  They’re amazing.”  Other services that Sherman mentioned include help with networking, interview practice, and simply finding career options for you.

The MUSE seminar ended with a question-and-answer panel of five different students each with different summer experiences during their time at Mines.  One student read the emails sent out by Kay Godel-Gengenbach and visited Australia, while another “spent a summer playing with (and possibly breaking) lab equipment that costs more than your CSM education.”  But if it’s more your style, you can find a job right here in Colorado where there are plenty of opportunities close to home. And, no matter what you want to do with your summer, the most important thing to remember is to get out and try; there’s something for you.