Former National Science Foundation director Sethuraman Panchanathan and Grace O'Sullivan, the vice president of corporate engagement and strategic partnerships at ASU, gave career and life advice to students at GlobeTalk on Friday.
The event was presented by the Global Career Network at ASU. This student organization works to provide resources that bolster students' professional growth, and is particularly for international students. Many of them attended GlobeTalk to acquire advice from the two prominent speakers.
Misa Tran, a junior studying supply chain management and president of the Global Career Network, said the organization invited the two panelists due to their backgrounds and the example they set for the students.
"(Panchanathan and O'Sullivan are) such a big influence on people, not only in Arizona, but globally," Tran said.
Though the Global Career Network welcomes any student who would like to join, GlobeTalk was specifically tailored to connect with international students. O'Sullivan's parents immigrated from Taiwan, while Panchanathan grew up in India and went to Canada for his doctorate, beginning his work at ASU in 1997.
"What you want is the assimilation of the values and the unbelievable cultural excellence of the United States blended with the culture that you have grown up with," Panchanathan said. "Meld them together. Expand yourself."
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Keshava Olagappaa Subramanian, a sophomore studying computer science, said the opportunity to meet such important people taught him how to network and gave him confidence for his future prospects.
"It gives me hope that if I could balance out the emotional aspects of being here as an international student along with gaining the opportunities that ASU and (the) United States of America provides, I hope I can become like them one day, or even better than them," Subramanian said.
The discussion differed from typical career talks on campus. Rather than talking about internships and job opportunities, the panelists took a holistic approach, helping students look at success through the perspective of personal fulfillment.
"There are two things that we acquire in our lives: We acquire skill sets and mindsets," Panchanathan said. "What carries you to your career is mindsets. What carries you to your job are skill sets."
Keeping with the motif of mindset, the majority of the questions asked pertained to how students should figure out personal dilemmas they frequently face: Who am I? What motivates me? How should I focus my efforts?
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O'Sullivan and Panchanathan did not give specific advice to each student, but instead gave frameworks for students to use when answering these questions for themselves.
"It's really not about what you do, it's how you do it," O'Sullivan said. "It's really about the way you do things, how you treat people and how you make them feel — because that's what people are really going to remember."
At the conclusion of the meeting, the students in attendance were given the opportunity to speak with each panelist individually for specific advice or words of encouragement. The students waited in line, each taking their turn to talk with the experts.
Students such as Pranshi Vats, a graduate student studying global business, appreciated the ease and comfort of these individual connections.
"When we talk to Dr. Panch (Panchanathan), it feels like you're talking to an uncle, like he's just a friend of your dad's or a friend of your mom's that you know from back home," Vats said.
Such familiarity and care for others were displayed in the message Panchanathan gave toward the end of the Q&A session, Vats said. He encouraged students to recognize the tendency to focus inward and to instead pay closer attention to their surroundings.
"You don't have to strategize for this," Panchanathan said. "It is just (that) you are paying attention. You're living in the moment, paying attention, seeing what the need is out there and satisfying the need."
Edited by Sophia Braccio, George Headley, Tiya Talwar and Pippa Fung.
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Kate Gore is the Science and Tech Desk editor, ensuring accurate coverage of the scientific endeavors completed by ASU faculty and students and their impact on the broader community. She is beginning her second year on staff at The State Press. She previously worked as a Community and Culture Reporter, shining light on important events and happenings around campus.
