In case you are unaware, Generation Z uses the term “yapper” to define someone who talks excessively. Although the term is thrown around loosely in a bad way, I believe that it has benefited me in my professional journey. This reflection starts all the way back in high school.
Ironically, I was not always very talkative as I went to a small high school with a graduating class of 150. I was always the type of student to sit in and learn about my classmates through word of mouth. As interesting as the information I received sounded, it baffled me that I never actually had a real conversation with the person who I was hearing about. What if they aren’t really like that?
I didn’t realize my talkative potential until I came to Binghamton and started interacting with other students in my freshman year. I never thought of it much until I kept hearing a common phrase used by my friends: “Carly, how do you know everyone on this campus?” The answer: I didn’t!
In all honesty, a lot of the people who would come up and say hello were students that I interacted with from classes and clubs. For every single person, the story would be similar: I meet them, I start talking about something, and every time I see them I continue having new conversations with people. Since I wasn’t able to interact to this capacity in high school, college allowed me to excessively flourish with the people who I interacted with in a way that made me memorable. I never would have thought that this was the correct way to create concrete friendships.
And through that, I learned a transferable skill: communication!
This semester, my internship at Fleishman involves A LOT of interacting with complete strangers. I know for most people, this would be something that seems difficult, and even scary. But I realized something very quickly—I did not care! I loved to talk, and I enjoyed informing people about the center’s resources. I have been told by many students that I have an “unfiltered” vibe (to an extent, of course), which makes them come back to the table every week just to see what’s new. It was never really something I saw as a “task”, I genuinely just love to talk and learn about the people who I surround myself with every day.
Through this new skill, I am also able to communicate digitally very easily. These skills have been implemented in my internship through flyers, as well as the blog you are reading right now. Most of the time, I never pre-plan what I say to other people regardless of the medium I communicate with. I have made it a habit to write words on a page and see how it sounds, with the assumption that other people are listening. If I never flourished my oral communication skills out of high school, I would never enjoy my life, my community and my time at Fleishman as much as I do currently!
If you, too, are a yapper, and would like to utilize your skills with the students here at Binghamton, I suggest applying to be a Student Career Influencer Intern. It requires students who are willing to conduct outreach activities and, especially, interact with others. Follow the Fleishman Center’s Handshake profile for updates on when we are hiring for next semester’s Student Career Influencers and other roles!
