Julie Tessler brings a wealth of policy, advocacy, and leadership experience to her role as a FirstGen Ahead coach. For over two decades, Julie has served as the director of Vermont Care Partners, a trade association of community mental health agencies. She has also served on not-for-profit boards of environmental, spiritual, human service, and community organizations. It is not surprising that the FirstGen student who chose to work with Julie as her coach is also interested in a career in the not-for-profit sector.

It’s easy for Julie to recall what it felt like as a college student – being excited about life’s possibilities but also very unsure about what career path to take. While internships were a great help for her in figuring out what interested her, she was still unsure about job options and where graduate school would fit in. She volunteers as a FirstGen Ahead coach so she can provide the guidance to a young person that she did not have and to pass forward what she has learned.

Julie’s approach to coaching is to let her student drive the process by reflecting on their interests and goals. Julie simply serves as a sounding board, guide and resource. Of her coaching experience thus far, Julie says, “It’s been an enjoyable learning experience to watch the student I work with explore options and reset her goals as she learns from her classes and interviews. What a wonderful, albeit confusing, time of growth and potential opportunity for FirstGen participants.”

Certainly, this time is difficult for anyone to gain from an internship – with unemployment rising and work being done remotely. In this current environment, Julie’s creative advice is “not to get discouraged, there are always opportunities for exploration, skill development and growth.” A long-term perspective Julie advises is, “Not to allow yourself to feel pressured and race to fulfill your dreams or the expectations of others. If you are forced off your chosen path due to the pandemic closing doors, it might just lead to more interesting experiences and a better path for you. Life will bring you places you never anticipated, and that’s a wonderful thing to experience.”

If you would like to learn more about serving as a FirstGen Ahead coach, please contact Susan Gershenfeld – susan@firstgenahead.org.