Captain Emily Anthony, the director of the Office of Military and Veteran Success, recently spoke to students about her personal experience with career changes and encouraged students to embrace change.
Anthony’s lecture focused on the many times she changed her mind and decided to take on a different career path. Like her, students are likely to change their minds about their major or their desired career. Her first time switching gears was before she began college. She had originally planned to attend LSU for pre-med before switching her degree to political science.
After working at a summer camp in New Hampshire, Anthony decided again to change her major to elementary education. Then, in 2009, she decided to join the Air Force.
Her parents were not on board with her new plans and her sister encouraged her to finish school first, then decide what career path was best. She graduated in 2012 and then moved to Austin, Texas.
Anthony went on to apply for a master’s program with LSU Shreveport online and began teaching second grade. In 2016, she finished a master’s degree in education and moved back to Baton Rouge.
She officially enlisted in the Louisiana National Guard in 2018.
“Timing is everything. If I had joined the military when I was in college, I would not be who I am now,” Anthony said.
Anthony continued to explore different career paths while in the military. She was selected to be an Education Services Officer for the Louisiana National Guard in April 2021. The position entails being a representative and advocate for military members attending Louisiana institutions.
In the summer of 2022, her National Guard unit was tasked with building an obstacle course on the Rugby Field at Southeastern. Speaking with alumni and ROTC officers, she discovered that a position with the Office of Military and Veteran Success was vacant. They encouraged her to apply, and she took the department director job on Jan. 3, 2023.
She emphasized throughout the lecture that students have many opportunities available to them and everyone’s path will look different.
“It’s never too late to change your mind. Just because you’ve chosen this major right now or you’ve picked that job for when you graduate, does not mean you have to do it for the rest of your life,” Anthony said.
