Find Your Person; Find Yourself

Introduction

The average worker changes careers 7-12 times in a lifetime and may change jobs every 12 months. If you sense an imminent career or job change, you will want to hear this F.L.O.W.cast episode. Our guest, Deanna Blackwell, a training specialist in intercultural engagement and diversity for the Peace Corps, has some thoughts on how to make that next, best move to a new career. She shares the insights she has gleaned from her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer, educator, and trainer, as a mentor, and mentee. 

 

About our guest

Deanna Blackwell’s lifelong mission is to teach. A a native of Springfield, Illinois, she is an education and culture specialist and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer with experience teaching and training in U.S and international contexts. She studied in Zimbabwe as an undergraduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in Arts and Literature at Eastern Illinois University, completed a masters in African Studies at the University of Illinois and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Utah where she completed her thesis, "Students of Color in White Dominated Classrooms: An Examination of Racialized Roles, Safety and Empowerment." 

 

Takeaways

Social identity impacts educational outcomes. 

Let what you know anchor you, then spread your wings. 

Joy, humor, and humility are bridges across cultures. 

Relationships are essential for success anywhere. 

Self-sufficiency is a myth. 

Mentors who are  generation ahead of you and who share some aspect of your identity may be most helpful. 

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. 

Don’t take your own gifts for granted. 

Be brave enough to believe that you are worth someone taking time to hold space for you, your growth, thinking, hopes and fears. 

Find Your person; find yourself

 

Resources

Peace Corps