"The EYP program helped me know more myself as a professional and become better at elaborating myself. Mike was a great mentor and facilitator in terms of helping us find our unique strengths and tell a great story behind our experiences."

-Yuting Wu BSI '19

2018 Participant 

 

"No matter your experience, participating in Elevate Your Passion will help you greatly increase your skill and comfort with public speaking. And you cannot overestimate the power of this skill - whether in your work, personal life, or whatever passion you choose to pursue." 

-Jill Meyerson MSI '18

2018 Participant

 

"Elevate Your Passion allowed me to not just understand how to present myself to employers, but also helped me map out my journey and my story for the purpose of my own reflection. It allowed me to face my discomfort when it comes to speaking in front of crowds, and it was a great exercise to get out of my comfort zone and learn how to craft a compelling story about my place in design."

-Ambika Vorha MSI '19

2018 Participant

 

"Elevate Your Passion was an amazing and transformative process. I enjoyed working with both the program leaders and the participants as I was able to take my previous background and history, and distill it down to its very essence. Previously, I felt I was successful enough with my public speaking skills, but EYP adapted those skills and greatly refined them. I learned a lot about myself and what I am trying to get out of my current Masters’ program as well as what direction am trying to head in; regarding both school and work. 
After presenting, I had an instant job interview with one of the recruiters attending the program and I ended up securing my Summer Internship as a direct result of participating in EYP. Initially, the EYP program entailed a lot of work to be done outside of the weekly meetings, but it ended up paying off immensely. I highly recommend anyone apply to the program, even if you are reluctant about public speaking. As a participant, you will learn a lot, and you might even find your dream job as a result."

-Ben Henig MHI '19

2018 Participant

"One of the most compelling things you can do as a job-seeker is know your own story. Where have you been? How did you get to where you are now? Where are you going, and what’s compelling about you? I learned to articulate my story through Elevate Your Passion, and it helped propel me through applications, cover letters, interviews, all the way to a full-time internship at Facebook this summer. I highly recommend signing up for Elevate your Passion, especially if it scares you — that means you are ripe for learning something about yourself, and ready to take on the next step of your own success."

-Julie Cruz MSI '18

2017 Participant

 

"EYP directly helped me to get an internship.  After I gave my presentation, a recruiter for a startup incubator in Detroit came up to me and told me 'you have to come be a part of this program'. And that's exactly what I did."

-Ben Zimmerman BSI '18

2017 Participant

 

"EYP is an amazing unique opportunity that not only allows you to connect with employers first hand but also helps you to develop and evolve your own story and enhance your public speaking skills, which are truly invaluable assets. I still use my EYP deck now whenever I need to make a presentation about who I am and what I hope to accomplish." 

-Paris Hsu MSI '18 

2017 Participant

 

"Elevate Your Passion was a valuable opportunity not only to tell my stories to the employers but also to improve my story-telling and public-speaking skills. I could see how much progress I made after practicing with the peers every week. The passion pitch was definitely one of my best memories in my first year."

-Jingshu Zhao MSI '18

2017 Participant 

 

"Elevate Your Passion is one of the best events that I have participated in at UofM. You will meet awesome people and leverage your career from there. Give it a shot, you will never know unless you try."

-Ella Meng MSI '17

2017 Participant 

"Elevate Your Passion offered the unique opportunity to be exposed to employers first-hand. You have the chance to tell your story front and center. Highly recommend."

-Yianni Kontorousis BSI '17

2016 Participant 

 

"Elevate Your Passion pushes you to step out of your comfort zone; but not alone. With the care and motivation UMSI provides, this is your first step in taking charge of YOUR career. Stand in front of prospective employers, pitch how awesome you are and get one hour of exclusive networking with these potential employers. This is a great opportunity!"

-Vijeta Belandor MSI '16

2016 Participant

 

"Elevate Your Passion was more than an opportunity to showcase my professional journey to potential employers at a career event. It provided a great opportunity to get individualized feedback on the way I talk about myself professionally. I used the storytelling techniques that I learned preparing for Elevate Your Passion in the interview that landed me my current job." 

-Michelle Jackson MSI '16

2016 Participant

 

"In addition to helping me stand out to employers at the career fair, Elevate Your Passion really pushed me to explore why I'm at UMSI, what I want to do afterward and how I articulate that in a succinct yet compelling way."

-Jake Silva MSI'17

2016 Participant

 

"Elevate Your Passion" gave me intimate access to employers in a way that is not possible by just attending the career fair, and I can trace several of the interviews I got directly to my presentation.  I would recommend the program to anyone looking to get an edge with recruiters."

-Adam Engstrom MSI '17

2016 Participant