How Your Professional ‘Fit’ May Find You

I packed my car to a hazardous level after completing my graduate studies and left Buffalo for the great city of Boston. I was one of only a few people in my family to move more than 30 minutes away from home and I was terrified. Perhaps as a way to curb my anxiety, I took the opportunity on the 7 hour drive to craft the plan for my future. Between numerous CD changes and an ugly cry somewhere near Albany, I told myself that my first professional job was only going to be a temporary stop on my journey to move back toward home in a couple of years. I was open minded to what was ahead, but put an expiration date on my new endeavor.

That was eleven years ago, and I am still proudly employed with the first institution I’ve ever worked at: Northeastern University. You see, somewhere between unpacking that first box as a residence director to my current position as Assistant Dean I discovered that in some cases (not all, I recognize) there may be the opportunity to create your ‘fit’, rather than have to search for your ‘fit’.

I learned a few important lessons about remaining open minded and responsive to change and allowed an institution to shape me as a professional, rather than me putting limits on how much I wanted to learn there. When I began to immerse myself into the ethos of this magnificent campus, I discovered pockets of opportunity that awaited and created the space within my own position to stretch my professional legs and grow. I networked with colleagues across the university both professionally and personally and created friendships that are priceless to me now. I also sought to understand the long-range plan of the organization and thought critically about how I could contribute to that vision. Even as a residence director I was able to feel as though I played a role in something larger.

I still attempt to do those things in my current role and find that I am constantly challenged and reinventing myself in order to meet the needs of our students and the institution. The position that I serve in now exists because of a path that I followed and opportunities that I have harnessed along the way. I took calculated risks and remained open-minded about what each day could bring – the amount of professional growth I have been able to experience at one institution has been astounding and it was entirely unexpected. It can be difficult to grow in place and I have my moments where I wonder where my path would have led me if I stuck to that plan I laid in that overstuffed car a decade ago, but I wouldn’t change the outcome for anything.

When I was thirteen my grandfather and I decided to raise 500 chrysanthemums and we watered each one by hand with a soup can and a bucket. We could have used some sophisticated irrigation system to make it easier, but my grandfather rejected taking the easy way out and instead opted for the slow, steady and careful method that would result in more pride of work when all was said and done.

In many ways I used that old soup-can-and-bucket method on my first job and that ‘fit’ found me.

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Jason Campbell-Foster is the Assistant Dean of Student Involvement at Northeastern University. He is currently completing an EdD at Northeastern and received his master’s degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.