Attendees at the 2025 Emerging Professionals Program mixer
By Nichola Monroe ’27
Early career prep for undergraduate students is becoming more important as the job market becomes more competitive. That’s why the Office of Career Planning and Resources (CP&R) at Scripps provides numerous opportunities for students like me to dive deeply into our fields of interests through career treks, summer internship grants, and skill-development programming, in large part thanks to the generosity of Scripps donors. The Emerging Professionals Program (EPP) is one such opportunity.
Why join the Emerging Professionals Program? To engage with career services early
I began engaging with CP&R my first semester at Scripps. From refreshing my resume to helping with cover letters, I have always felt cared for any time I visited. When CP&R sent the application for this year’s Emerging Professionals Program (EPP), I jumped at the chance. This five-day intensive is designed to break down the job application process into feasible steps to help students gain confidence in searching for jobs, preparing application materials, networking, and interviewing.
“I never say that if a student never comes to us, that they won’t be successful. Of course they will be,” says Director of CP&R Ashley Valdez. “However, research suggests students have an easier time transitioning into the working world the more they engage with career services.”
A fellow cohort-member and classmate of mine, Macy Gilroy ’27, was drawn to the program for similar reasons.
“So much of our life is structured around education, so I haven’t had that much time to reflect on what I am actually interested in doing,” she says. “I’m hopeful that EPP will offer me more clarity and nuance to what it means to be an adult after college.”
What is the Emerging Professionals Program? Here’s the rundown
Scripps College founded the Emerging Professionals Program in 2016 as a week-long, on-campus program held before the start of the spring semester.
“[EPP] came about to offer students career development support in a compact way that didn’t compete with athletics, academics, leadership, and the million other things that students do on campus,” Valdez says.
Since then, the program has evolved to better serve its participants. This year, EPP consisted of an orientation in November, three days of virtual programming in January, and closed with a networking event in Los Angeles for students to meet alums, parents, and recruiters.
Career development in a cohort environment
Even though this year’s EPP was primarily virtual, peer participation was key. Orientation focused on self-reflection and industry exploration. My cohort members and I took several assessments to explore our personality preferences and top career interests. We also spent time building community to connect, inspire, and learn from each other.
Jiwon Hyung ’27 and Macy Gilroy ’27
“It was reassuring to have motivated peers in the program,” says Macy. “While you could really tailor the program to your interests, we could still all relate to the intimidation, the nerves, the unknowns about this whole job search process.”
Virtual workshops helped us develop and practice skills in real time. In one led by Valdez, we learned how to approach job or internship searches efficiently and share our experiences with other EPP participants.
“I definitely feel more confident when it comes to applying for jobs,” Raelyn Ponce ’27 says, another cohort member. “I realized that I have a lot of talent, and I want to make sure I’m able to use it by matching it with position descriptions. I also learned that even though I may not fulfill everything on the description, that doesn’t mean I’m not qualified for the position.”
It’s common for Scripps community members to share their career insights as EPP presenters. Megan Chambers ’14, an independent career counselor, shared networking essentials and narrative strategies to tailor interview responses. For me, the highlight of the program was a series of mock interviews with alums, recruiters, and parents, where students received in-depth feedback.
“EPP helped me build a career toolkit to present who I am,” says Macy. “Prior to the Emerging Professionals Program, I often felt like I needed to say everything all at once; now I feel a lot more confident in my ability to answer interview questions. I have a framework to tell my stories in a concise way that truly shows my impact and skills.”
I thoroughly concur, and have put what I learned to good use in some recent internship interviews.
Bridging the Gap between Classroom and Workplace
Despite my engagement with CP&R, I sometimes still ask myself why I even need career prep work. Shouldn’t my academics provide me the skillset I need to be successful in my chosen career?
Yet I’m continuously becoming aware of the gaps between academia, graduating, and transitioning into professionalism—which can be a particularly frustrating pill to swallow. However, speaking with the folks at CP&R subdues my frustrations; they never fail to brilliantly meld the tasks ahead with the strengths I’m developing in my classes.
“With the strong education you receive at Scripps, students learn a lot of skills that make them employable,” Valdez says. “Critical and analytical thinking, reasoning, excellent writing and communication—all are essential for whatever you do after graduation. We help you translate your classroom learning and articulate your value in the workplace.”
I, for one, am so grateful for the work CP&R does for myself and fellow Scrippsies, because the more I participate with their programming, the more I come to recognize how much I learn from them. So despite my occasional, or perhaps even frequent, moaning about networking on LinkedIn, I am incredibly glad to have the skills start down that road, one step at a time.