There they were, staring at me. All 35 of them, notebooks open, pens poised, waiting for me to say something so smart, so encouraging, that it would forever change their lives.
Yeah, right – who do they think I am?
As each entered the room, they stole glances at the “guest”. Was it OK to say hi to me? Or should they simply find a seat and remain silent? A few smiles dotted the room here and there. Little did they know that I was the one sweating. Seriously, I think I was sweating bullets. Deodorant failure was imminent.
Who do they think I am? Apparently some uber-important person who took time to enter their world for a few hours. Caught between being embarrassed and having the feeling of a rock-god, I must admit that it was fun to feel important. Even for a brief period of time.
Who am I, really? I’m a guest lecturer at Texas A&M, my alma mater. A volunteer, if you will. This opportunity started out some years ago as simply my way of giving back to the university that means so much to me, through different mentoring opportunities, presentations, panel discussions, etc. The past few years I’ve been fortunate to serve as a guest lecturer in a graduate marketing class. What an amazing opportunity – something that I feel fortunate to have, and one that I take very seriously.
And as I’ve said before, volunteering is one of the benefits of having some extra time. You know, from the lay-off.
They tell me that I’m good at this, that the students get something useful from my presentations and the discussions we have. Guess I do alright, since they keep asking me to come back. Funny thing is I’m the one who is really getting the benefit here.
After all, it hardly seems like I have anything to share that would be of importance to these incredibly gifted minds. They are students at the best university anywhere (in my humble alumni opinion), with amazing faculty and incredible resources at their fingertips. What could I possibly have to share that would help them achieve their goals?
Apparently years of work experience count for something other than a paycheck and paying Uncle Sam. OK, it counts for A LOT.
Think about it – when you were a student, wouldn’t you have loved access to someone working in your field of study? Someone who would tell you how it really is out in the work world, a person who would help you connect the dots between course work and actually working at the job? Someone who could help you think outside of what you know, brainstorm ways to leverage your degree and possibly serve as an occasional mentor?
To me, marketing and PR is just what I do. Nothing special. To the students, it’s the ‘real deal’ and sharing my experiences helps them break out of the academia for a bit to see that opportunities are out there for them – tons of opportunities – if they will just look.
Laid off or not, I challenge you to make time to volunteer. Doesn’t have to be with students – pick something that interests you. If you’re a marketer, help a non-profit. An engineer with a gift for all things mechanical? Help a neighbor fix something in the house. Teach. Talk. Share. Do. Be present for others. Your experience definitely counts for something, and the feeling you get from helping is unbelievable.
I’ve met the future and they stared back at me. Boy, is the future bright.
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
So agree with the volunteering. I mix it up a bit…do PR for my church and Feed My Starving Children pro bono, but my other volunteer work is completely out of the realm of PR and marketing. It’s a nice “escape” from the office.