Adapting to Change and Embracing Opportunities

From the very beginning of my trip to Los Angeles with the National Millenial and Gen Z Community, I was driven to adapt. For a city that hugs people in with bright, sunny, and warm weather, we were met instead with LA winter weather. It was raining and cold, but we made the most of it, and we were rewarded with a sunny beach day on our very last day!

Our itinerary was far from empty, giving us plenty of opportunities to make connections and have fun while doing it! We dined at restaurants you could only dream of, met executives with our dream jobs, participated in focus groups, visited Universal Studios, experienced Dreamscape, performed choreographed dances, and were immersed in the world we hope to be a part of one day.

While I am usually a go-with-the-flow type of person when it comes to plans, this trip had me nervously looking at the itinerary every chance I got. My favorite part of the trip was the impromptu dance competition that was not even on the itinerary. This trip was full of surprises, and I have to admit that all of them were pretty amazing. Most of our trip was adapted and had us breaking free from our comfort zones when we would pivot to make the most of other opportunities.

I met so many amazing people from colleges around the world and was able to have conversations with Presidents, Directors, Account Managers, Strategists, Consultants, and more. It amazed me how interested these executives are in how Gen Z thinks and how willing they are to help us succeed. It made everything seem much less overwhelming, knowing they were here to support and lead us. I loved that almost no one who attended the trip had the same background. There were people from different countries representing different states, marketing majors, neuroscience majors, dance majors, people from different cultures, and so much more. My heart became so happy every time a new person would find their specialty in an activity we did or a place we went. When we did the dance competition, it was cool to see how many of us had a dance background. Or when we went to a Middle Eastern restaurant, one NMGZ member could enlighten us on the culture and the foods we saw in front of us.

I like to think we were all brought together for a reason and that everything that we did on this trip happened for a reason because I not only learned so much about myself but, we learned so much about each other in such a short period that we will remember forever. This trip has helped me experience just a little more of the world, yet it has already made a huge impact on me. I realized when we toured an astonishing full-service marketing agency that I could see myself living somewhere else in the world other than Connecticut and New York, where I am from. My mind would have never wrapped around the idea of living in LA, but experiencing what Los Angeles had to offer, I could now picture it.

I hope to continue to adapt to all of life's challenges and remember I can pivot myself to where there are new opportunities to embrace!