Honors College Spotlight: PAC Boot Camp

By Chelsea Evans

Honor College Students

“How do I create an effective resume?”

“How can I stand out to my interviewer?”

“Did I even choose the right degree?!”

As a college student, when presented with these questions, most could do nothing more than look around nervously and shrug their shoulders. Fortunately, the Grand Canyon University Honors College is offering a new program to its students – something that will pick them up and point them in the right direction toward finding these answers.

This new program is called the Personal, Academic and Career (P.A.C.) Boot Camp. It is a six-week intensive program that allows Honors students to explore their career choices and majors to make sure that they are in the right program. From there, they are able to expand on whatever professional skills they might need to prepare for life after college.

Breanna Naegeli, Honors Program Manager, spoke at the first meeting saying, “We are giving you these opportunities and resources because we did not have them in college.” Marrette Hahn, Career Services advisor, nodded in agreement. They talked about the importance of starting the preparation for one’s career as early as possible.

Hahn commented, “It is important to have one-on-one attention with your resume, the opportunity to mock interview to get out those nervous ticks and the opportunity to have a mentor to hopefully get some exposure to your field to help you truly explore whether this is the right path for you.”

Abbie Perzan, a sophomore majoring in forensic science, avidly listened to their advice and absorbed every word. Throughout the course of the program, she took advantage of every opportunity she could. Perzan traveled around Phoenix visiting crime labs and collecting business cards, venturing deeper into the world of forensics and confirming her decision to be in this field.

Excitedly, she told a story of visiting one of the crime labs, saying, “I actually got to see severed hands from a body that was going to be used for fingerprinting. At that point, when I did not get that nauseous feeling and I was kind of excited, I knew that it was the field for me.”

In the end, she interviewed with the GCU executives and finished in third place in the PAC Boot Camp program, winning a $3,000 renewable scholarship. Perzan’s mentor, Melissa Beddow, a forensic science professor at GCU, contributed Perzan’s success to her drive, determination and willingness to go out and meet new people.

Beddow commented on the importance of putting in the time and hard work to explore one’s major while they are in the early stages of their college career.

She stated, “It is hard to decide what you want to do with your life when you are 20. A lot of people think they know what they want to do, but then they get into the field and they hate it. It is good to see what it is really like.”

Perzan had only positive things to say about the program, commenting, “I am really happy that I did because it opened so many doors for me.” All college students should be inspired by her strong will and drive to go out and do something that most would not.

Her final advice? “Take advantage of everything.”

Interested in learning more about the Honors College at Grand Canyon University? Visit our website or contact us using the Request More Information button at the top of the page for more information.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.

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