Mackenzie Mykleby, a junior double-majoring in political science and economics at Purdue, has a passion to move into the corporate world and work on immigration law and policies someday.
To do this, Mykleby has found her footing as an executive chair in the Center for C-SPAN for Scholarship & Engagement (CCSE) community – a group she has been a part of since her freshman year. CCSE provides Purdue students with experiential learning opportunities to facilitate non-partisan conversations about various topics within politics and offers career services such as networking, resume-building and visits with special guests such as journalists and politicians. An amazing opportunity presented itself to her freshman year when she was able to go to Washington D.C. for two weeks to visit C-SPAN and meet Brian Lamb. While there, Mykleby said she networked with amazing people she remains in contact with. She says the biggest lesson she has learned in working with CCSE is how important it is to support the people around you.
In her spare time, Mykleby works for the Lafayette Urban Ministry as an immigration services intern where she meets with clients and helps them determine which immigration process will meet their needs. Mykleby says that this opportunity is a fantastic learning experience and that she is always learning from the people around her.
Dating back to her freshman year, Mykleby has attended as many workshops about resume-building and getting an internship as possible. She has also attended a lot of career fairs, even if they didn't connect with her major. Even though some of these career fairs had nothing to do with what she wants to pursue, Mykleby says she found value in practicing her interviewing skills, determining what to wear and how many resumes to bring. She is grateful that she attended and collected all this helpful information upfront because now she finds herself putting it to good use.
To create an impact, Mykleby notes the importance of extracurricular groups available within the Purdue community. She says that it is not just about being a member, but getting involved and collaborating with others. The more individuals you bring into an event, Mykleby says, the more people will want to attend and become impacted by what you do. Mykleby tries to be productive in her everyday life and challenges herself by trying to get out of her comfort zone. She is not afraid to speak her mind and share her opinions or ideas and says the work that she has done at Purdue so far has helped her develop more self-confidence.
Mykleby loves the diversity she has found at Purdue and values her peers' varied backgrounds and perspectives. The people are so educated here, she says, and they care about their careers and what they are doing. Mykleby encourages students to meet others outside their major and college.
When asked what advice she would give to others, Mykleby says to get out of your comfort zone. There is so much to experience and learn from. In some ways, those experiences are more valuable than classes. School does matter, of course, but each college's professional development programs also have a lot of personal development incorporated into them. While West Lafayette is a stereotypical midwestern town, there aren't a lot of environments that provide the opportunities Purdue does. It is important to meet and make friends, socialize and study something you are passionate about and interested in. She suggests finding purpose in what you are studying. Purdue is a nurturing environment for students who want to do that. She says it is crucial to challenge yourself to become a better person every day and be kind to yourself.
Mykleby also finds value in showing vulnerability around her peers. If she is having a bad or busy week and needs extra support, she is upfront, honest and direct about it. She says that everyone goes through this at some point and in turn, it has made her become a better leader by teaching her empathy. Everyone cannot always operate at 100 percent, so give grace to others and offer help when others need it.
To work on her well-being, Mykleby likes to spend time with friends. Her freshman year, she admits she didn't have a balance between school and her social life. As a result, she found she couldn't perform as well in the classroom because she was so stressed out. She found she needed an outlet for social time with her friends. Since then, Mykleby has made it a priority to incorporate social time with her friends into her schedule, which has helped her well-being and stress levels. She is performing better in school and getting her work done. She finds her friends also help to keep her accountable, which she finds is important for her.
Mykleby works on building her network through the many mentorships offered by CCSE. She says so far, she has had seven mentors that she keeps in touch with regularly. These mentorships have helped Mykleby meet students just out of law school and in law school, as well as professionals with more than 50 years of experience, in their own private practice and government. Most of these mentors are Purdue alumni who have shared their learning experiences from Purdue, deepening Mykleby's connection to the university.
If you want to add Mackenzie to your network, connect with Mackenzie on LinkedIn.