Last week, when Temple University held its spring 2021 graduation ceremonies, Sarai Harcum's family and friends proudly watched the live-streamed event.
Sarai earned a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising with an Account Management Concentration. According to Temple University, this concentration offers preparation for careers that open doors for students in a broad array of industries.
In an email sharing her good news, Sarai told Women of Color magazine that she had decided on a career in advertising because she enjoys the positive impact of visual communication.
"Throughout my course at Temple, I had the opportunity to take classes in advertising campaigns and apply that knowledge to the real world," Sarai wrote.
She worked as a marketing and sales intern at GraySquare, a Philadelphia-based marketing and advertising firm.
Through a student-run advertising agency, Sarai gained experience as a media planner, brand strategist, and account manager.
During the pandemic, Sarai found a ready support network in her close-knit family.
"I stayed motivated by understanding my 'why' and my goals, short-term and long-term," she said. "A quote that resonated with me is 'it's not how you start but how you finish. When the plan does not work, change the plan but not the goal,'" she said.
Networking also helps. During Career Communications Group's BEYA STEM Conference in February 2020, Sarai and her brother, a graduate of Salisbury University with a bachelor's degree in business, shadowed a corporate executive at the three-day event in Washington D.C.
The executive was none other than Gwen Bethea, Career Communications Group's vice president of corporate development (who happens to be their aunt). The young graduates were introduced to leading advocates in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) community who represent potential employers.
"I am very proud of her," said Gwen. "Sarai persevered through this past year, enduring the loss of one of her closest friends—my Mom—her grandmother," added Gwen, who along with her family led the Zoom memorial for Mrs. Florence Frances Soden in July 2020.
Sarai is one of the hundreds of 2021 college graduates who are missing grandparents during this commencement season.
A retired nurse, Mrs. Soden was the matriarch in what Sarai describes as "a long line of educated Black women" who continue to inspire her. Sarai hopes to become an art director.
Click HERE to register for the Women of Color STEM Conference.
