By Madison Sudu and Olivia Feinblum

"Make sure you’re making decisions for yourself." Even when I was doing stuff in high school, whether it was being a good student or just trying to do well, I genuinely wanted to be a good student. In college, I had a lot of fun, but I did it by my own means. I wasn’t doing stuff just because my friends were doing it. And if they were doing things that I didn’t like, I would just say no, and I also felt good about that. I’ve carried that into adulthood—moving between different friend groups, dealing with pressure to do certain things, and even handling my job. I just try to make decisions for myself and feel good about them. Growing up my dad always told me, “If you have a problem with someone, defend yourself, and protect yourself, but don’t be the one to instigate.” This helped me navigate through difficult situations in my personal and professional life. I’ve learned over the years, that it’s important to ask others for advice when you need it. I tend to try to make a lot of my own decisions, and that causes me a lot of unnecessary stress. It’s okay to just tell someone, “Hey, I’m not feeling it today, I’m overwhelmed. Can we talk through it?” In the end, you usually come out with a better plan quicker than trying to do it all yourself. I learned this when I was in school for sports marketing. I pivoted from sports marketing and wanted to be a full-blown psychologist but became accustomed to counseling in grad school. I currently work at the New York Institute of Technology. I’ve always wanted to work in education, specifically in higher education. I really like working with college students and want to foster their growth, both academically and beyond the classroom. I would like to venture into working with high school students and prepare them for college. I realized that even though that’s not what I originally planned on doing, I was able to transfer the skills I had already learned and apply them to other aspects of my life and career. 

-Madeline Leonard