Career Roadmap
Mark's work combines: Education, Non-Profit Organizations, and Helping People
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
First, before a degree, I recommend an experience that illuminates what it's like to work with youth—an internship, teacher's assistant, or a role with a youth development organization. Then pursue an undergrad degree that you're passionate about and provides a foundation of supporting youth. Next, experience multiple roles with direct responsibility for youth development. Finally, if beneficial or needed, pursue a graduate degree that directly supports your aspirations to serve young people.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Education
State University of New York at Cortland
Graduate Degree
Educational Leadership
College of Notre Dame of Maryland
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
My father worked as a builder, so I spent a lot of time helping him build houses and learning about good work ethic.
2.
I knew early on that I wanted to work with kids, but I wasn’t quite sure in what capacity.
3.
The day after I graduated high school, I started working at a job where I supported kids in a residential treatment center.
4.
In college, I started diving deeper into learning about systemic inequities, which solidified my desire to want to help those who are struggling yet given the least amount of opportunities.
5.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in education from the State University of New York at Cortland and started my career as a teacher.
6.
After teaching for a few years, I moved up to become a school principal.
7.
I later moved into the nonprofit space, supporting other school principals, and then got the opportunity to serve as the Secretary of Education for Delaware.
8.
After having hundreds of conversations with teenagers, I saw that they have so many passions and interests but little opportunity to pursue them, so I started GripTape to help them do that!
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
I want to be a school principal but I'm not ready yet. I don't know enough. I need to wait a few years before I'm ready.
How I responded:
After teaching for a few years, I realized that I wanted to become a school principal. However, I told my friend that I wasn't ready yet and would wait three to five years before trying. He told me that if I was waiting until I was ready, I'd never be ready. You have to be willing to stretch yourself, take that next step, and learn with it. Accept the fact that you're going to be relatively ignorant at the start. Everyone is ignorant when taking their next step. Just put in the work and learn.