Carolina Alumni Review - March/April 2008

Administration _GAA

DOUG DIBBERT ’ 70, president doug_dibbert@unc.edu; 962–7050 Staff STEVE SHAW ’ 82, director of finance & administration steve_shaw@unc.edu; 962–3599

LISA BEERS, controller lisa_beers@unc.edu; 962–3575

DAVE DONALDSON, mail room, 962–3979 MEGAN HOBBS, assistant to the president megan_hobbs@unc.edu; 962–7051 MARYCATHERINE KURZENSKI, alumni center coordinator marycatherine_kurzenski@unc.edu; 962–7052 SUSAN LANE, accounting assistant susan@gaa.unc.edu; 843–8974

TOM MAY, printshop coordinator tom_may@unc.edu; 962–3741

ELIZABETH MORGAN, telephone receptionist, 962–1208

Membership and Marketing

STEPHANIE MILLER ’ 83, dir. of membership & marketing stephanie_miller@unc.edu; 962–7058

SARAH LAMM ’ 99, manager of marketing sarah_lamm@unc.edu; 962–1276

Programs

RICK DAVIS ’ 85, director of enrichment programs rick_davis@unc.edu; 962–3581

ANN-LOUISE AGUIAR’ 76, manager of alumni education & travel ann-louise_aguiar@unc.edu; 962–0313

KAT BUTLER ’07, coordinator of student programs kat_butler@unc.edu; 962–7053

LINDA CONKLIN, manager of alumni career services linda_conklin@unc.edu; 962–3749

C. HAWKINS, coordinator of student membership c_hawkins@unc.edu; 962–7054

STEFFI KINTON ’05, coordinator of alumni education & travel steffi_kinton@unc.edu; 843–5115

TANEA PETTIS ’ 95, coordinator of affinity reunions &

alumni admissions programs tanea_pettis@unc.edu; 843–9694

CASEY PRIVETTE ’01, coordinator of alumni clubs casey_privette@unc.edu; 962–6705

LINDA RAINEY ’ 95 (MA), manager of alumni activities linda_rainey@unc.edu; 962–3576

ANITA WALTON ’ 92, manager of homecoming & affinity reunions; anita_walton@unc.edu; 962–3582

Publications

REGINA OLIVER ’ 75, editor regina_oliver@unc.edu; 962–7056

KATE NEWTON ANTHONY, art director kate_anthony@unc.edu; 962–3572

SARAH MCCARTY ARNESON ’ 96, associate art director sarah_mccarty@unc.edu; 962–4794

DAVID BROWN ’ 75, senior associate editor david_brown@unc.edu; 962–7057

HILLARY DORWART, advertising account representative hillary_dorwart@unc.edu; 962–8820

DAVE DRAKE ’ 92, online coordinator dave_drake@unc.edu; 843–9712

KEITH KING ’ 82, associate editor keith_king@unc.edu; 962–3903

Records and Information Systems

ROGER NELSEN, director of alumni records & info. systems roger_nelsen@unc.edu; 962–7055

TRACY CHRISMON, records assistant tracy_chrismon@unc.edu; 962–3737

STARLA GLENN, records assistant starla_glenn@unc.edu; 962–3584

JULIE GONYA, network administrator julie_gonya@unc.edu; 962–5788

COURTNEY KROLIKLOSKI ’07, records assistant courtney_krolikoski@unc.edu; 962–3586

JEREMY MCCAMIC ’03, records assistant jeremy_mccamic@unc.edu; 962–4412

MARTHA MILLS ’ 80, records assistant martha_mills@unc.edu; 962–3585

RACHEL ORR, records assistant rachel_orr@unc.edu; 962–3739

JOAN PENDERGRAPH, assistant director of alumni records joan_pendergraph@unc.edu; 962–3580

JULIE TROTTER ’ 85, records assistant julie_trotter@unc.edu; 962–3738

Careers

Put Your Unexpected Wisdom to Work

your career,

Idon’t know what I want to do with my which doctors life.” to seek out, ^{your life}

This statement is probably the most how to evaluate common lament I hear from clients. In nursing homes looking for the answers to this dilemma, I and much LINDA

have come to the realization that life comes more. She ^CONKLINat us unexpectedly, and the greatest wisdom became an expert at identifying and uti-springs from experiences that we never lizing services for the elderly. would have selected for ourselves. Her original life plan was to write,

In writing the script for my life, I would play and teach music. Instead she gained never have included the chapter on moving unexpected wisdom. As a result she

— in fact, it turned out to be 13 moves. It became a consultant for families faced was not what I had planned, but it was with finding health care facilities for what I did. Life is like that. As a result of all their parents and grandparents. She iden-those moves, I learned many valuable life tified a need and found that she had the lessons and developed many strengths. wisdom to fill that need.

Eventually I became an expert at re-invent- ■ A highly decorated Marine planned on
ing, repackaging and redesigning myself. making the military his career. A grenade
I also became adept at packing and took one leg, an arm and an eye and in
unpacking household goods. I learned how an instant changed his life. When decid-
to give away, sell or otherwise dispose of ing how to reinvent himself, he realized
any nonessentials so that I would not have that he knew a lot about team-building,
to pack and unpack them again and again. leadership and public speaking. He chose
My organizational skills reached Olympic to become a motivational speaker and
levels. share his unexpected wisdom with oth-
So when it came time to select a career ers struggling with major loss.
path, I assessed my options and decided As you decide what to do with your life,
that the two things I knew more about ask yourself two questions: What do I know
than most people were looking for a job more about (or can do better) than anyone
and moving. So I could either share my else? Who might need that knowledge or
insights about conducting a job search, or I skill? These questions immediately put a
could invest in a moving van and go into different spin on how you view your expe-
business. I decided to share my hard-won riences.
wisdom about finding a job. Sometimes we need to let go of our

From my various experiences I learned game plan so that we can discover a bigger that finding the right job can be an over- game. We are often so attached to a specific whelming process. Sure, you can always outcome — for example, I must be a find any job, but that generally leads to dis- lawyer, or I must make $100,000 a year — satisfaction in a matter of months. Finding that we overlook our true gifts and talents. the right job — that can take a lot longer. We focus on the externals rather than the In addition, I learned that looking for a job brilliance inside us. could be lonely and frustrating. But unex- What unexpected wisdom do you pos-pectedly, I had figured it out. sess? What events have changed your life?

Unexpected wisdom is a gift most of us What have you learned from your experi-have been granted, but because we are so ences? What can you, and only you, con-close to the situation, we fail to see it. Here tribute? Let the answers to these questions are a couple of examples of people who guide you and move you forward. ■ realized the value of what they had learned:

■ A talented musician with a doctorate in music cared for her elderly parents for years. She became adept at navigating the health care system. She learned where to go for information and advice,

Linda Conklin, GAA manager of Alumni Career Services, provides career coaching and monthly teleclasses. The April 21 teleclass will be “Networking.” Conklin’s advice and other career-related information can be found on the Web at alumni.unc.edu/career. Contact her at linda_conklin@unc.edu or (919) 962–3749.