New Year, New Career: Maggie’s journey back to school

As the working world evolves and becomes more versatile, the way people approach their careers has been evolving as well. It has never been easier to switch working fields, but with a new career comes a demand for new expertise. Maggie, a student in the Advertising and Communications Management program at Mohawk College, is in the process of starting a career in a new field after having enrolled in January when she needed a fresh start in the middle of winter. “I have a university degree and I have a previous diploma. My background is in theater production and design,” said Maggie. “I had a pretty extensive career in theater, but I had to kind of split that into two parts because a theater career isn't… well, there's no stability.” 

Maggie’s search for a new job began during the pandemic. Faced with the time to think about her career, Maggie took the opportunity to reflect on her passion, exploring new career options and researching which colleges are open for January intakes. “During the pandemic I was able to take a breath and ask myself what it was I trying to do and remind myself why I went into theater. I had a love of writing and literature and all things media,” said Maggie. “When I decided to quit my theater career, it was around October, and I didn't want to be without doing something. I didn’t end up leaving the industry until around mid-December. That's when I started looking on my laptop wondering ‘how can I find a career in writing?’ and trying to find programs that I could learn from because I personally do better when I learn in a school environment.” 

Having left her job in December, Maggie decided to follow a new path, and by January she had already set foot on that path by starting her college program. At the time, she was glad for the opportunity to start in January instead of having to wait until September, saving her 8 months of waiting. “I applied to Mohawk College’s Business - Marketing program because I thought the program was going to give me what I wanted. As I got to know the program a little bit better, they explained that it would lead me more so to a career in retail, which is not at all what I wanted. We had one assignment where we got to actually write an ad, so I was asked, ‘is this what we're going to be doing?’ and my teacher responded ‘well, no, that would be the Advertising and Marketing Communications Management program. I hadn't really thought of advertising in a creative way. I always thought advertising was more reports and bullets and everything like that,” said Maggie. 

Maggie’s experience showed her the lengths that Mohawk College will go to to help a student succeed. 

Though Maggie didn’t relate to the Business – Marketing program, she’s found her place in the Advertising and Marketing Communications Management program, embracing the creativity behind advertising and putting her passion as a writer to work. “My professor connected me with Janice, our program coordinator, who sat and spoke with me about my goals, what the program was going to entail, and encouraged me to give it a shot. So, I did, and I ended up loving it. And here I am today, about to finish the program.” 

Maggie's journey to a new career.

As she looks towards her future graduation and beyond, Maggie is preparing for an internship that will help her to launch her new career, completing her transition from theater to advertising. “After completing the program, hopefully the next step is a job. We have an internship as part of our final year. The last seven weeks of this semester are supposed to be spent in an internship. I’m hoping to get a copywriting internship, that would be great, and then, like, we'll see where it goes from there!”