Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Sotelo.
Hi Megan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved reading and creating stories. I remember writing dumb stories with my friends and reading every book I could find as soon as I learned how to read and write.
When I was in college, I joined Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. and also worked as an alumni coordinator, helping college students persist through college. After I graduated, I went on to be an editor and project manager for a small company in Dallas; however, I continued to advise college students as an advisor for my sorority, which made me realize that I really wanted a job where I can help students overcome the challenges they face through post-secondary education and help them achieve their goals.
This drove me to pursue a master’s degree in education and switch fields so I can continue to help students during their college journey. I still love to read and write, so in 2020, I self-published my first book: Late Night Might As Well Be Drunk Writing. I also decided to join BookTok and Bookstagram to help elevate authors of color and build my platform, but recently, I have found myself posting college tips to make the information more accessible to college students.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think everyone has their own bumps and struggles, but I think mine are still relatively small. While I enjoyed my college experience, I think I had a lot going on during that time as I tried to balance work, school, extracurriculars, and family. When I think back to then, I don’t know how I did it. During my senior year, I would go into work at 5 am. (I had a retail job and worked on the early morning crew.) I would work until I went to class from 1 pm-5 pm. If I had extracurricular activities that day, I would be on campus until 9 or 10 pm. Then, I’d go home and do homework and work for the two internships I had at the time. I struggled a lot with taking care of myself and my mental health, which is why I love what I do now. I hope that I can be a resource for my students or at least someone to come and vent to when they’re having a bad day. I also like being the one to remind them when they’re putting too much on their plate and need to take a break.
After college, I was lucky to find a job pretty soon after graduation, which my family was worried about since I majored in Literary Studies (basically English). We were just coming out of a recession, so that was bold choice for a major at the time. I think that’s part of the reason why I took so much on during college. I wanted to have enough experience through extracurriculars and internships to find a job. I enjoyed it for a while, but it wasn’t the most fulfilling or fun job. Although I had a good amount of volunteer experience working with college students, I didn’t have the college degree to prove it. I applied for jobs for about a year before realizing I needed to go back to get my master’s. Soon after, I was able to find a job with my current employer.
As far as the writing goes, I think my struggles are the same as any other writer. I’ve submitted things to be published several times and had them rejected. I think the takeaway from that is you shouldn’t be afraid of rejection. It happens to everyone at some point, and you just have to make improvements and keep moving. I did have an offer from a publishing company back when I was in college, but I wasn’t comfortable with some of the requests they made in the contract and ended up not going through with it. I decided to self-publish back in 2020 since I had the time to write, and I was eager to get my work out into the world.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Currently, I work as the Manager of Alumni Success for Uplift Education. I work with our alumni who are in college to help them graduate so they can move onto their career. I’m still pretty new to my role since I recently got a promotion from being an alumni counselor in July. In my new role, I also manage our data and scholarships for alumni and collaborate with our director and counselors on ways to improve our programming and resources for alumni.
First, I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built with our alumni and how much our program has grown since I started. I think alumni counseling can be hard at times because you don’t see the ways you helped them for 4-6 years (about the average time it takes them to graduate), but when you do it’s so rewarding. Over the past few years, I’ve seen them pass classes that they were sure they were going to fail, start their own businesses, study abroad, found organizations on campus, get admitted into graduate school, go back and finish their degrees after taking time off during the pandemic, and more. Our alumni are amazing, and I’m so proud to work with them and be even a small part of their journey!
As far as a personal achievement that sets me apart, I’m really proud of the ways I’ve been able to help expand our scholarship program over the past few years. Last year, we awarded over $500,000 in scholarships to alumni to help them with college expenses. Our counselors meet with them several times a semester to help them stay on track, and if they stumble, we try to see what additional support they need academically, emotionally, or financially to make sure they feel supported.
When I started working at Uplift 5 years ago, I was just managing the accounts and making sure our fundraiser money was in the right place, but now I oversee the process from beginning to end. I work with our development team (the team who helps us secure the money) to determine what the scholarship applications look like before we start the cycle for that year and compile the responses for the preliminary review of the applicants. I advocate our students’ needs to our donors and staff so we can adjust any eligibility requirements that may be creating barriers for alumni. I manage the communication with our alumni to ensure they turn in all their documentation, and I process their scholarships and make sure they receive them. Obviously, I couldn’t do this without my team and their support. They help me do the hard work: helping our alumni through the everyday struggles and making they sure they complete all the requirements. They keep me sane and are always willing to jump in and help me during our high-volume periods at work. It can be a little stressful at times, but I’m so honored that I’m trusted to help our alumni in such a substantial way.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
1) If you’re in college and you’re reading this, take advantage of all the resources available on campus. That includes the organizations. There’s a lot of discourse around whether college is still worth it, and despite the big price tag, I still say yes. A big reason why is because there are so many opportunities for you to network with people who can get you in the right place. Your professors, people who are in the same major as you, upperclassmen, etc. These are the people who can help you get to where you want to be. Make sure you’re asking the questions about what experiences they’ve done to get them to where they are. When you graduate and are looking for a job, these are the people who can help you connect with employers and learning opportunities. There are so many times I see a job we’re hiring for, and I think of people I met in college or through my sorority or previous jobs who would be a good fit and refer them, but I wouldn’t have thought of them if I didn’t already have that existing relationship with them. When people say it’s not about what you know but who you know, that’s what they mean.
I also say take advantage of the organizations because I think people forget that you can put them on your resume as relevant experience. When I graduated from college, I had some internship experience, but when I was in my interview from my first job, I didn’t really talk about that. I talked more about my experiences from college and what I gained from being in a student organization. It also helped that the philanthropy from my sorority matched up with the volunteer work that my first employer did. I wouldn’t downplay the impact being involved has on your resume. Those experiences are important, too. If you know how to frame those experiences, they can really round out your resume.
2) Don’t be afraid to start over. No hate to my last job, but at some point, it felt like there were limited opportunities for me to move up in the company. I also wasn’t too excited about doing project management and editing for the rest of my life. It was really scary for me to think about moving into a completely different field when I had already put in three years of experience, plus my degree, in another, but it ended up being a really good career move for me. I love what I do now. I get to use a lot of the skills I learned at my last job, and I get to help people on a wider scale.
Contact Info:
- Website: megansotelo.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/meganstiletto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-sotelo-med-b2756152/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@meganstiletto?lang=en
Image Credits
Kimberly Esparza
Blaine McKinney
