{"id":2080,"date":"2016-05-27T13:18:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T18:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/?p=2080"},"modified":"2016-06-21T13:54:43","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T18:54:43","slug":"patton-2016-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryville.edu\/mpress\/patton-2016-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"Allie Patton, ’16, Finds Success by Embracing Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading time: 5 minutes<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Allie Patton, \u201916, graduated with her MA in Organizational Leadership and Development<\/a> on May 7. A few weeks later, she received a promotion at her job with local public relations giant Fleishman-Hillard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure my new graduate degree helped with that,\u201d Patton says.<\/p>\n

It all began when Patton landed an internship at FleishmanHillard in 2014. A year later, she became a junior business partner working as a specialist in talent development, and began working on her master\u2019s. Now she\u2019s a senior specialist.<\/p>\n

Patton helps employees figure out ways to become happier and more productive at work. For example, she recently brainstormed with an employee about her perception of herself as an important part of the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent a long time rerouting her thinking and looking at things from a more positive perspective,\u201d Patton says. \u201cShe realized that she did add value, which had not been something that was obvious to her before.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I wanted everyone to realize that changing your mind and trying different paths is completely healthy and acceptable. \u00a0I also wanted people to see that there is success in the end – I love my job.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Patton also helps people take a step back before leaping to conclusions, with the aid of a ladder concept she learned in her Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPPprogram. \u201cI\u2019ll draw a ladder and say, \u2018Make sure you\u2019re not jumping up to the tenth rung before you know all your facts,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Patton gets a tremendous amount of satisfaction from her work. \u201cIt\u2019s so exciting that I get to help people every single day,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The Power of Change and Personal Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

On her own career ladder, Patton has several thoughts: keep climbing at FleishmanHillard now, and later, perhaps work for, or start, a nonprofit organization. She\u2019d like to help disadvantaged people work their way into careers, an issue she became aware of during an internship with Crisis Nursery, which supports families undergoing severe stress.<\/p>\n

No matter what she chooses, Patton believes it won\u2019t be a mistake. She looks at the many different decisions she made that eventually brought her to FleishmanHillard: changing colleges three times, switching majors from social work to organizational leadership, and taking another job that wasn\u2019t the best fit.\"Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP's<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever a wrong choice,\u201d Patton said. \u201cIt\u2019s about how you learn from the choice not working out, and how you change after that choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, as one of two Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP commencement speakers (see Elizabeth Hammond, \u201916<\/a>), Patton chose to talk about what she calls \u201cthe power of change and choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted everyone to realize that changing your mind and trying different paths is completely healthy and acceptable. \u00a0I also wanted people to see that there is success in the end – I love my job,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpt from Patton\u2019s commencement address:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a world where the only constant is change. That is exactly what I have been doing ever since I graduated high school in 2009. I changed cities, I changed colleges (three times to be exact), I changed majors (again, three times), I changed jobs and I changed dreams. All the while I was constantly asking myself, \u201cWhat am I supposed to be doing and what do I want to be when I grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n

We all feel like we have to have it all figured out. We have to know exactly what college we want to go to and what program we want and what job we will have in the end. Let me tell you now that is not always true! Not only do we live in a world of change, but we live in a world of choices.<\/p>\n

Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPPembraced my love for change, and choices, and gave me the soft landing pad after years of searching for the perfect school \u2013 and now, it has provided me with the launching pad into a fulfilling career.\u00a0 So I am here to say, \u2018Who cares if you don\u2019t have it all figured out, because most of us don\u2019t.\u2019\u00a0 I may choose to change my career in five years, and that\u2019s okay. In fact, I recently had the privilege of speaking at my high school\u2019s career day and some of my former teachers were shocked to see me in the role I am in today. In high school I was the one who had no idea what they wanted to do or be. I knew that I loved working with people and helping them \u2013 oh, but wait, I also loved science! Oh, and art class was fun, too. How was I supposed to choose one path for the rest of my life? The high schoolers I met two weeks ago at career day shared the same thoughts, and I told them exactly what I am telling you, change and choices \u2013 embrace them!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i>Love<\/span>0<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/i> <\/i>