Recently, there was a Clarkson alumnus visiting campus for a short time. Multiple faculty members nudged me to meet this alumnus for a few reasons. Juan Martinez (links to information below) had three affiliations that convinced me to attend a short talk he was giving in a professor's class:
1. He has been in the communication and policy field for over 20 years,
2. He currently works for the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) (website below), and
3. He ran the Integrator (Clarkson's newspaper) during his time at Clarkson.
Half of my major is communication; I am also an LGBT activist and a member of the Integrator staff.
Meeting this alumnus sounded like a great opportunity for me to network and learn.
1. He has been in the communication and policy field for over 20 years,
2. He currently works for the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) (website below), and
3. He ran the Integrator (Clarkson's newspaper) during his time at Clarkson.
Half of my major is communication; I am also an LGBT activist and a member of the Integrator staff.
Meeting this alumnus sounded like a great opportunity for me to network and learn.
GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe and affirming schools for all students. Established in 1990, GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to creating a more vibrant and diverse community. | There was also academic incentive to meet Juan Martinez. The Communication internship (COMM470) I'm doing requires me to interview a professional in a field of communication and write up a "lessons learned" sort of summary. It was the best timing as Juan Martinez visited campus about a week before the interview was due. He agreed to talk with me that night as I rushed to draft appropriate interview questions. This is definitely not the only reason I was excited to talk with Martinez. He has a very diverse background in communication, business, development, politics, and nonprofit organizations. He always knew he wanted his work to impact the world as well as expand his skill set in order to learn more about himself. It was encouraging for me to interview Martinez since he found a direction towards what he wanted right here at Clarkson. |
Juan Martinez grew up in the south Bronx in the 1980's. This was the period in which the impoverished stigma attached to the Bronx reached its peak, according to Martinez. The social and economic inequality he was surrounded by as a child was instrumental in his future goals. He wanted to go on and help people. While this environment could have kept him in the same disadvantaged place, Martinez made an effort to rise above the stereotype. He held a journalism internship in high school. And one day, someone from Clarkson came to a college fair at the United Nations looking for prospective students. Martinez visited the campus and was wooed by people's friendly attitude. Unlike at a larger university, Martinez claimed that he didn't feel like a number. At the time, he was very good with math. This encouraged Martinez to pursue a degree in Accounting in Clarkson's class of 1995.
After arriving, Martinez found a rhythm that suited him in Clarkson's many clubs and subjects. He found professors that challenged him and classes that interested him. While he started as an Accounting major, the electives he took in pre-law, technical subjects, communication, and sociology rounded his knowledge and encompassed more of his interests. Martinez joined up with the Integrator as a sports writer and was made the editor second semester of his freshman year. This gave him the opportunity to market the paper in a new way, or as he phrased it, "re-brand" the paper. Martinez also became enthusiastic about reporting issues on campus. He had that activist mentality to improve things for struggling groups and increase Clarkson's diversity. In 1993, Martinez and his girlfriend at the time worked to re-open a Women's Center, a resource they felt was necessary at the time for women on campus. They felt like there wasn't a space on campus for women to talk about what they experienced at a school primarily populated by men.
After arriving, Martinez found a rhythm that suited him in Clarkson's many clubs and subjects. He found professors that challenged him and classes that interested him. While he started as an Accounting major, the electives he took in pre-law, technical subjects, communication, and sociology rounded his knowledge and encompassed more of his interests. Martinez joined up with the Integrator as a sports writer and was made the editor second semester of his freshman year. This gave him the opportunity to market the paper in a new way, or as he phrased it, "re-brand" the paper. Martinez also became enthusiastic about reporting issues on campus. He had that activist mentality to improve things for struggling groups and increase Clarkson's diversity. In 1993, Martinez and his girlfriend at the time worked to re-open a Women's Center, a resource they felt was necessary at the time for women on campus. They felt like there wasn't a space on campus for women to talk about what they experienced at a school primarily populated by men.
In his senior year, Martinez was set on his plans to enter into a journalism graduate school program in Syracuse. The same girlfriend was heading to Binghamton for a professional doctoral program and they were deciding where they would live after graduation. The night before he was scheduled to take his GRE, Martinez decided to drop his plans for graduate school and go to Binghamton. What he called his "inner voice" or "gut" was pulling him away from the prospect of continued schooling. He felt that he would do better entering into the job market directly after graduation. A piece of knowledge he gave to me was, "Sometimes, the best decisions are the ones you don't make." His approach to his career path stayed constant. | "Sometimes, the best decisions are the ones you don't make." - Juan Martinez |
In both the class he talked in and the interview, Martinez described his career path as "zig-zaggy". He became the Director of TV Broadcast Services at WSKG Public Broadcasting in Binghamton after graduation. And as you can see in his LinkedIn profile (below), he then started his own company called Darkhorse Media Inc. which acted as a consultant in marketing, fundraising, communications, and development for its nonprofit clients. Martinez has been a journalist, consultant, adviser, and press secretary for multiple political campaigns, including for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, worked as the Senior Program Officer in Policy and Advocacy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and most recently has worked in communications for Teach for America and Sesame Workshop. Now this is just in the past twenty years and I didn't list all of his work experience. Martinez hasn't spent more than five years at the same company. And he doesn't regret any of it.
Martinez said that each of these ventured in different fields fit his professional standards. As mentioned previously, Martinez had goals to impact the world and work in fields that would teach him something about himself. If he found both in a job opportunity, that was the ideal situation. Martinez was pulled towards jobs with what he described as "exposure"; as in, jobs that opened up new knowledge and opportunities to do more. And in these jobs, there was a corporate environment of innovation and communication. I actually incorporated some of the questions I asked at the Career Fair for the Theory of Rhetoric class I'm taking in the interview. I wanted to know what was most valuable in the work environments he had been in, specifically between coworkers and between boss and worker. For the coworkers, a business model centered around collaboration and communication was the most optimal in Martinez's opinion. Workers that respected each other and openly talked about progress and projects functioned well as a unit. And he thrived when bosses trusted him to do a satisfactory job. If he was given some autonomy on projects, he was able to make changes freely and create ultimately a better product. Martinez explained that at this point in his professional career, trust is important both in the people you work with as well as in yourself.
Now how can I apply such an accomplished person's experiences to my own? We young people have no idea how we are going to enter into the professional world with crippling debt, a couple of computer classes under our belt, and okay writing skills (at least that's how I feel). Apparently, this isn't an uncommon feeling at our age. Martinez has been an introvert all of his life, more so during his school years where he struggled with depression and getting out of his comfort zone. When I asked him what he would say to himself when he first went to Clarkson after everything he experienced, Martinez said he would tell his former self to trust himself and his instincts. And as his current position at GLSEN as the Chief Communications and Advocacy Officer reflects, his instincts were right. He was able to make an impact and learn about himself and his abilities simply by listening to his inner voice.
The advice he gave to me, a young person considering a communication-intensive field, was to "wear lots of hats". By this, he meant that I am at a stage in my life where I have access to a lot of opportunities. If I want to experience a lot, I have to try different things. This won't always lead me to a well-paying job. But as long as I drive with a need for purpose, I can't go wrong. This is very scary premise because I will definitely have to leave my comfort zone. But just as Juan Martinez heard that inner voice the night before his GRE, I sense a sort of drive in myself that will lead me to a number of fields with the growing set of skills I have. I just have to open the door for myself.
The Social Scientific Method will be updated once a week with posts involving the happenings on campus, in the HSS department, and my experience as a student. Please comment, share, and enjoy for many weeks to come!
GLSEN's website:
http://www.glsen.org/
Juan Martinez's LinkedIn Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jmart73
Juan Martinez's Blog:
http://quietcom.wordpress.com/
Note that any writing or opinions on this blog do not reflect the views of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences or Clarkson University.
Martinez said that each of these ventured in different fields fit his professional standards. As mentioned previously, Martinez had goals to impact the world and work in fields that would teach him something about himself. If he found both in a job opportunity, that was the ideal situation. Martinez was pulled towards jobs with what he described as "exposure"; as in, jobs that opened up new knowledge and opportunities to do more. And in these jobs, there was a corporate environment of innovation and communication. I actually incorporated some of the questions I asked at the Career Fair for the Theory of Rhetoric class I'm taking in the interview. I wanted to know what was most valuable in the work environments he had been in, specifically between coworkers and between boss and worker. For the coworkers, a business model centered around collaboration and communication was the most optimal in Martinez's opinion. Workers that respected each other and openly talked about progress and projects functioned well as a unit. And he thrived when bosses trusted him to do a satisfactory job. If he was given some autonomy on projects, he was able to make changes freely and create ultimately a better product. Martinez explained that at this point in his professional career, trust is important both in the people you work with as well as in yourself.
Now how can I apply such an accomplished person's experiences to my own? We young people have no idea how we are going to enter into the professional world with crippling debt, a couple of computer classes under our belt, and okay writing skills (at least that's how I feel). Apparently, this isn't an uncommon feeling at our age. Martinez has been an introvert all of his life, more so during his school years where he struggled with depression and getting out of his comfort zone. When I asked him what he would say to himself when he first went to Clarkson after everything he experienced, Martinez said he would tell his former self to trust himself and his instincts. And as his current position at GLSEN as the Chief Communications and Advocacy Officer reflects, his instincts were right. He was able to make an impact and learn about himself and his abilities simply by listening to his inner voice.
The advice he gave to me, a young person considering a communication-intensive field, was to "wear lots of hats". By this, he meant that I am at a stage in my life where I have access to a lot of opportunities. If I want to experience a lot, I have to try different things. This won't always lead me to a well-paying job. But as long as I drive with a need for purpose, I can't go wrong. This is very scary premise because I will definitely have to leave my comfort zone. But just as Juan Martinez heard that inner voice the night before his GRE, I sense a sort of drive in myself that will lead me to a number of fields with the growing set of skills I have. I just have to open the door for myself.
The Social Scientific Method will be updated once a week with posts involving the happenings on campus, in the HSS department, and my experience as a student. Please comment, share, and enjoy for many weeks to come!
GLSEN's website:
http://www.glsen.org/
Juan Martinez's LinkedIn Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jmart73
Juan Martinez's Blog:
http://quietcom.wordpress.com/
Note that any writing or opinions on this blog do not reflect the views of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences or Clarkson University.