Anna Masica ’19 Accepted as a Venture for America Fellow

As Anna Masica ’19 gears up for graduation in a few weeks from the Boler College of Business, she looks forward to working for a startup through the Venture for America program. Here are Anna’s post-graduate plans in her own words: “My entire college career, when I told people I was a marketing major with an entrepreneurship and peace, justice, and human rights double minor, I was inevitably asked: well, what are you going to do with that mix? While it made not have much sense to others, it made a load of sense to who I was. I wanted to use business and innovation to change the world. Simple enough, right? Fast forward some years, and the job search was coming up to a standstill. It seemed I could not find many companies in the midwest that want to do what I was looking to do, and then I found it: Venture for America. It was sort of perfect for me. Venture for America is a two-year fellowship program for recent grads who want to work at a startup and create jobs in American cities. It was a beautiful mix of my marketing degree with that entrepreneurial and justice mindset. All of the companies were innovating the word for the better in some way or another. It would give me a chance to move somewhere new, but somewhere in metropolitan cities where I would not feel like I was lost in. I started my application from there. It was four rounds, first was an application, then an essay round, a Skype round, and finally selection day. I began filling out my application off of a whim and left it until I found out more. Once I got into the second round of interviews, I realized it was a real possibility. Getting into the third round made it seem even more real, I could actually see myself doing it. Crazy enough, there I was, a few weeks later, sitting at a chance to interview in person, selection day. My interview felt like more like a conference than an interview. I was surrounded by so many incredible, strong, like-minded individuals interview beside me that were not there to compete with each other, but were excited to learn about each other. That's when I realized what I was most excited for in the program. I would be moving from an incredible John Carroll community to an incredible VFA community where I would be able to grow and thrive in my two years following graduation. This community would push me to grow into the best version of myself. When I found out I got into the program, I was elated! I am the first JCU student accepted into the program, and it was truly a wonderful fit for me. I accepted that night and began the process of finding placements in the 14 cities they have. I am in the middle of that process to find a job, but I am excited to see where this leads. The hardest part is definitely over! From here, I will move to Wayne State University in Detroit for five weeks for intensive training in the summer before moving to my eventual city. I am excited to see where this goes and to update everyone more on what it will look like from this point. Onward, on into the future!"