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Career
Profiles - P. McCarthy
- Describe your field?
I am a college staff person at Penn
State Erie, The Behrend College. My
title is area representative in the
Center for Corporate and Adult Learning,
which means I work with adults who are
pursuing their college educations, as
well as companies, businesses, and organizations
in the area around Behrend to arrange
for educational training at their places
of employment. Also, I coordinate outreach
programs for the community, such as
the Math Options Program for girls,
and arranging special conferences for
organizations.
- How did you become interested
in this field?
A long time ago, when my children were
6 and 7 years of age, I obtained a job
at another university as an assistant
to the dean. In that job, I learned
all about higher education and how a
college works. Eventually, I ended up
in the Adult Education area, and assisted
many adults in getting their college
degrees.
- What education did you have to
obtain?
To do what I do, at least a Bachelor's
degree is required. I earned my bachelor's
degree while working full-time at the
university, taking classes in the evenings,
on my lunch hours, and on weekends.
My Bachelor's degree is in Arts and
Humanities, with a focus on English
and foreign languages (French and Spanish).
Then I decided to go on and obtain a
Master's degree in Counseling and Psychology,
with an emphasis on Student Personnel
Administration. This was a good combination
of my years of experience working in
the dean's office, in adult education,
and the theory behind working in a college
environment. It took me a long time
to earn both degrees - 15 years, because
I worked full-time and went to college
part-time. The advantage of that was
that my entire college tuition was paid
for by the university because I was
an employee.
- What were your favorite subjects?
English, especially writing; algebra;
and French.
- What is your every-day life like?
No two days are alike. I go out and
call on company representatives; meet
students in my office to counsel them
on what courses to take; I attend meetings;
travel out of town to meet with companies
or to attend conferences and special
events. I use the phone a lot to make
contacts and arrangements. I also write
grant applications, and ask people in
the community for money for the Math
Options Program. Some days I put in
long hours just to get the job done,
including weekends, and other days I
don't work as many hours. During my
lunch hour, I visit my mother who is
in a nursing home, or go to the Y to
work out. Once in a while, I will meet
a friend for lunch.
- How do you balance a family and
career?
To successfully balance my career and
my family responsibilities, I need to
be very organized, which means keeping
a schedule in my planner and following
it closely. I write a lot of notes to
myself in my planner. My husband and
I are very close - we do everything
together - so with his help, I try to
plan dinners ahead, so I'll know what
I need to pick up at the store on my
way home, and plan simple meals that
are healthy and nutritious and easy
to fix. He helps do laundry and cleaning.
I try to exercise at least 3 times a
week by walking and doing stretching
exercises. I find that I feel better
when I eat healthy meals, and exercise
- I have more energy and better concentration.
In the winter, when I can't get out,
I get on my treadmill at home. My kids
are grown up and we now have grandchildren,
so we keep in touch with them and try
to get together with them at least once
every other week. My husband and I like
to stay home at night and watch movies,
or sit on our deck or by the fireplace.
We go on a nice vacation where it's
warm at least once a year to relax and
do nothing but lay in the sun, swim,
snorkel, read and go out to nice restaurants.
The other thing I do is sing in a high-quality
church choir. I love music. We sing
classical compositions and often sing
with an orchestra or string ensemble.
This allows me to keep my creative juices
alive.
- What is the coolest thing about
your career?
It's flexible and different everyday.
I meet so many nice people who are constantly
trying to improve themselves through
education, and the community in which
we live. When I worked at the other
university, I got to go on three neat
trips through the university - to Spain,
Mexico, and England. When you work in
a college environment, a lot of opportunities
like that are available. I also get
to travel to Penn State at State College
a lot which is great, especially for
football games.
- Is there anything you would like
to add?
What I'd like to add is that usually
we don't know what we want to be when
we "grow up". A career is
a journey and quite often, we end up
doing something we hadn't planned because
we were in the right place and right
time. I'd like to advise students to
keep an open mind about what career
you choose to get into. Get a good solid
well-rounded education, and then go
out and explore the possibilities. Try
to match your talents, personality characteristics,
and interests with a job. And keep an
open mind about changing jobs every
few years so that you don't get burned
out, stale, or lose your ambition and
creativity.
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