Meredith Wright

What is the most useful piece of career advice you got as a student, and who gave it to you?

The advice I got as a young adult was unhelpful - my mom thought I should work in a bank, my dad wanted me to stay in school in something related to business. In the end, it was down to me to figure it out myself. It took me the longest time to figure out what I wanted to do for a career... what I didn't realize at the time was that all the jobs I took and quit before getting to where I am now were integral to my ultimate success. If I hadn't been a factory janitor, retail worker, waitress, temp office worker, liquor store clerk, residential group home support worker, special needs teacher, job coach, case worker, supervisor, counselor... who would listen to me now?

In layperson terms, what do you actually do at work?

I am a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor - I help individuals with disabilities to prepare, obtain, and retain employment. One part of my job is that I work with high school students to help them figure out whatever comes next after graduation, that will eventually lead to employment. We try to figure out an employment goal and the steps it will take to reach that goal. We consider the individual's strengths, abilities, and interests... but also bear in mind their functional limitations related to their disability. I level the playing field for them to reach their employment goal.

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

I never knew that my career existed until I was in my 20's. After getting my bachelors degree in social policy in the UK, I started working in group homes, and then discovered my interest in working with individuals on the autism spectrum. I moved over to the US in 2001 to work as a teacher/residential support worker at a school for kids with autism. I then became a job coach and began to recognize the benefit of work for individuals with disabilities. I asked the people in the vocational department how they got their job, and they told me about the MA in Rehabilitation Counseling. I researched schools that offered this qualification, enrolled, and worked and studied for 5 years to get it. I tried different jobs in the field to get a variety of related experience - non-profit, private, and public.