Psychology major and Spanish minor, Gretchen Heideloff ’15 has used a range of APEX’s resources over her four years at Wooster. Like for many other first years, Heideloff transition into college was not as smooth as she had hoped. Even though APEX wasn’t yet established as an integrated organization, Heideloff’s Resident Assistant recommended that she seek help from the Learning Center. Following the advice, she met with the Assistant Director of the Learning Center, Amber Larson who helped her make a concrete time management plan. Heideloff has been using that ever since and vouched that it has been tremendously helpful for her to navigate course work. Since her first year she has also been meeting consistently with Assistant Director of Career Services, Marylou LaLonde to work on her resume.
For the summer after her sophomore year, Heideloff applied for an APEX fellowship but did not receive it. Determined to do better next time, she started working with Associate Director of Internships, Ryan Ozar to improve her application writing skills and with Associate Director for Employer and Graduate School Relation, Kayon Hall to improve her interviewing skills. Undoubtedly, Heideloff’s hard work and perseverance paid off, she received an APEX fellowship for the summer after her junior year to intern with a non-profit center for workforce development, El Barrio in Cleveland. The organization works with people who have only or less than a high school diploma to help them find and build a substantial career path. In summer 2014, Heideloff worked with the retention services department and her job involved getting in touch with old clients to check on their employment status. She chose to do this internship because it was a perfect combination of two things she’s extremely passionate about: career counseling and Spanish. It also reinforced her interest in multi-cultural diversity and inclusion. After graduation Heideloff hopes to work with a non-profit in Cleveland for a few years either in the field of career or multicultural counseling before she goes to graduate school.
Heideloff is a remarkable example of someone who has maximized APEX’s resources and she is extremely thankful to the staff at APEX who helped her realize her passions and contributed toward her professional development.