The Life Design Lab at Homewood - Johns Hopkins University

We're just a day away from the most exciting two weeks at The Johns Hopkins University. Thirty events over fourteen days will bring over 150 employers and alumni into spaces with thousands of JHU students. And no, we're not trying to fast-track our Blue Jays to jobs and internships. We're focusing on the process of self-awareness and self-efficacy for our students so they feel empowered to define success uniquely, connect with people authentically, and intentionally design fulfilling lives. Check out my personal thoughts on what it means to "Design Your Life Beyond Borders." #lifedesignlab #getcurious #johnshopkins

I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: Coaching 101: Certified Professional Coach from International Coaching Federation! My deepest gratitude goes out to Misha Safran, PCC, MA, and Ryan Doig of the Certified Life Coach Institute for teaching me more than I ever could have imagined. I walk away from this training not just with a new skill set and certification, but as a better human, parent, partner, co-worker, and friend. It is hard to summarize just how much I learned, but these nuggets rise to the top: - Listen deeply, the questions and answers are inside each of us. - Presence is perhaps the greatest gift one human can give to another. - Seek to understand. This is the remedy in a complicated and often polarized world. - Trust your intuition. (Thanks Amy!) - We are all okay. - Silence is beautiful. However my most treasured takeaway were the incredible souls, my fellow students and coaches, I met through this course. I am so humbled to come to know and love all of you. What a gift to connect, stay in touch and now have the opportunity to witness all of our lives unfold in magical ways. Special shoutout to Olivia Hardt Griffith, Christine Birch, Amy Herman-Roloff, Jessica Noble, CPC, SHRM-SCP, Lynette Johnson, and Francesco Ferendeles whom I connected and worked with on a deeper level. You have already made such an impact on my life. I believe there are no coincidences and you are the proof. I'd also like to thank The Life Design Lab at Homewood - Johns Hopkins University and specifically Ashley Schantz and Matthew Golden (he/him) for supporting me to imagine, get curious, and experience more in this life. I feel so fortunate to work for an institution, office and leadership who support me to try things, learn and grow in these ways. I will continue to tell THIS story. And special thanks to Annette Ramseur for taking action with me to make this happen! Lastly, this dream would not be possible without my beloved partner, Adam Lublinsky. You continue to show me daily just how lucky I am to have you in my corner and in my life. On that note, I couldn't have done this without my beautiful friends Leslie Shellow and Mary Spinoso. Thanks to all 3 of you for creating space and time for me to practice these skills with you. As cheesy as it might sound, this post would not be complete if I didn't take time to thank and honor myself. Girl, you've been through a lot, and I'm so proud of you! Finally, I'd like to thank the academy... 🤣 But seriously, taking time to express all of this just reminds me even more just how precious this life is, that we never go it alone, and being here in this life is truly a miracle. I am excited to see the ripple effect of this work for all of us. Much love! Marsha

Happy National Intern Day! 🥳 PAY. YOUR. INTERNS. Abolish unpaid internships :) #nationalinternday #internships

I attended a insightful session at yesterdays' Think Tank with The Career Leadership Collective on Career Advising and Student Engagement. The session was packed with valuable information and actionable strategies that I am eager to implement in my own work at The Life Design Lab at Homewood - Johns Hopkins University Some of my key takeaways: 💡 Revisiting student engagement based on the student development life cycle - Understanding that student readiness to engage varies throughout their development stages is crucial and relevant to not only the types of programs we offer, but how they are offered and how the information is disseminated. 💡 Quality of programs and holistic development - Our engagement strategies should focus on programs as they relate to students’ holistic development, including mental health, identity, and career development. If students are struggling with other areas of their life (mental health, housing, access to basic needs, etc) they are not going to be interested in services related to their future career. Integrating more programs that are co-created with other stakeholders on campus will help students feel supported. And being empathetic to where they are developmentally is key; they must be ready to hear the information for it to be impactful. 💡 Importance of asynchronous resources - Research shows that first-year, limited-income, and underrepresented minority students tend to engage first with content if it is asynchronous or can be found online versus directly visiting an office as first means of contact. This is a critical consideration for our online resources—ensuring they are accessible 24/7. I love a good quote and the one from yesterdays session really was good in showing the importance of true co-creation as a means of stakeholder engagement "A true architect is not an artist but an optimistic realist. They take a diverse number of stakeholders, extract needs, concerns, and dreams, then create a beautiful yet tangible solution that is loved by the users and the community at large." – Cameron Sinclair A big thank you to Monique Frost, Eric Curiel, Jackie M., Laura Garcia, Charles Jennings, GCDF for sharing their expertise and facilitating such a rich discussion. #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerAdvising #StudentEngagement