05/06/2013
Grad of The Week May 6 - May 10
Jacqueline Orvis- "From San Diego but without a bona fide “hometown,” I’ve been in the Bay Area since 2004. After traveling around the States in my late teens/early twenties, I really only happened to land here by chance, fitting right in with the outdoor crowd like I’d been here all my life. When I came back to California, I moved from Chicago to Arnold, Ca. Quite a change, right? I spent a season working at a ski resort before moving to the South Bay to pursue an education in storytelling. In fact, I chose San Jose State University because there was a sign for it on the interstate. Little did I know then that I would become a proud Spartan and that San Jose State would lead me to my dream life.
SJSU has given me opportunities to put my degree to work before it’s in my hands. As the science communications intern at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, a position made possible by my work at the Spartan Daily, I turn complex science into popular reads for the Monterey Bay and San Jose community. MLML is the CSU system marine science department for seven universities including SJSU. Graduate students and professors from SJSU are leading contributors to the breadth of the marine science disciplines. As part of the Friends of MLML, I sum up the hard work of the scientists into news releases so the community can keep up to date with the contributions to the marine science world.
Furthermore, I’m happy to announce my second year as an assistant event manager of the annual Bay Area Maker Faire, a massive science faire hosted by Maker Media. Formally O’Reilly Media, Maker Media is a prominent Sebastopol, Calif., company built from the ground to scourer the sky as the global platform for “makers” of all degrees and disciplines with a do-it-yourself mindset. I love working for a major media company, and I really lucked out by getting a foot in with Maker Media. With my training from JMC, I can really amaze my supervisors with skills and experiences beyond what I was originally hired to do – check in vendors at events.
Without my time at SJSU, I would not be where I am today: happy, educated prepared for whichever master’s program, fellowship or career choice I chose. And from the looks of it, I am already getting my choice of careers before I even move my tassel from the left side over to the right."