How Whitman Guided My Career Path

By Tayva Anderson ’25

I love being a senior! But ... I think all seniors can agree that one of the worst questions to be asked is “What are your plans after graduation?” Don’t get me wrong, the question is almost always well-meaning but, nonetheless, incredibly daunting to be on the receiving end. Personally, this question has always felt impossible to answer—most days, I’m not even sure what I am going to have for dinner.

However, now with less than 100 days until graduation and reflecting on my Whitman experience, I’m excited to say that I’ve confidently found a fulfilling career path for myself: employee advocacy and human resources. While this path may appear less glamorous than others, it’s a passion I’ve developed (both unconsciously and consciously) during my time at Whitman. And what better way to show you than a timeline!

First Year

When I first arrived on campus, I stumbled onto the Associate Students of Whitman College (ASWC), our student government. By luck, I was placed in the Nominations and Appointments Committee, which is responsible for selecting peers for student representative positions across campus. That was my first introduction to the hiring processes, confidentiality compliance and talent acquisition strategy!

Sophomore year

Tayva Anderson takes a selfie with friends.

After serving as a member of the committee for a year and a half, I was elected by my peers to serve as the chair, which also meant I now served on the Executive Council! As they say, with more power comes more responsibility. I hired a brand new committee and thoroughly re-evaluated our diversity, equity and inclusion hiring policies. I also got a first-hand look into how our students were impacted by the limited on-campus employment opportunities. I think this was around the time my passion for human resources really started to crystallize (here’s a picture of my awesome committee and me).

That summer, I got a marketing internship and moved to New York City! Living in NYC was great, but I also learned that marketing was not my thing (as you can see by my terrible design skills lol)!

Tavya Anderson holding a tablet and smiling.

Junior Year

I took several classes my junior year that helped shape my perspective on employee advocacy including The Political Economy of Care/Work and Rhetoric and Capitalism. In these classes, I learned about innovative employee organizing strategies and was able to apply the theory we studied to contemporary workplaces.
My work on ASWC led to an opportunity to share my committee’s work by presenting to Whitman’s Board of Trustees! After my presentation, the Vice President of Finance and Administration invited me to serve as the only student representative on the search and hiring committee for Whitman’s new Vice President of Human Resources! This gave me real-world experience without even leaving campus! I helped develop hiring materials, advocated for student interests, and learned even more about what higher-level hiring searches look like. I even got to interview the candidates and give my feedback on how this position would impact students.

A close up photo of Tayva Anderson's cat supervisor.

The summer after my junior year, I moved to another big city: San Francisco! This time, I focused my time on networking with amazing Whitman alumni in the operational strategy world and earned several new human resources certifications. Ultimately, this experience increased my confidence in benefits and compensation strategy, employee management, and de-escalation tactics! Check out this picture of Frankie, my “certification cat supervisor” in San Fran.

Senior Year

I stepped down from my position as Chair of the Nominations and Appointments on ASWC to take on a new challenge: Senior Admission Intern for the Office of Admission! In this role, I worked with an incredibly advanced and confidential database, assessed over 100 college applications and interviewed more than 50 high school students—future Whitties!
In March, I accepted a post-grad human resources intern position at Lynden Logistics! After graduating, I’ll be moving to Seattle to start this new chapter. What a relief to finally have an answer to the dreaded question: “What are your plans after graduation?”

My Whitman journey has allowed me to explore my career path, taught me valuable knowledge that I continue to use daily, and connected me to a network of alumni who want to see me succeed! Wherever life takes me, I know that I can translate all that my skills and knowledge I learned at Whitman into whatever comes my way. I couldn’t be more grateful to have found my passion and it’s all thanks to the many opportunities Whitman College has gave me.

Tayva Anderson ’25 (she/her) is from Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is majoring in Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse and minoring in Gender Studies and Politics. Tayva just started to DJ. Currently, her favorite artists to mix are Fleetwood Mac, Clairo and Tyler the Creator.