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7
PROFILE OF A GRADUATE
Dana Jones /
Communicator
“The key to success is networking.” Since graduating from
Amarillo High School in 1999 and earning a degree in broadcast
journalism from Texas Tech University, Dana Jones has
networked her way from TV reporting gigs in Lubbock and
Amarillo all the way to hosting big time interviews for the Dallas
Cowboys organization.
If Dana were to analyze her career, the turning point might be
a fateful job interview for a position with the professional hockey
team, the Phoenix Coyotes. Three hundred people interviewed
for positions that day and Dana knew it was no time to blend
in. Job candidates were asked to compose an infomercial about
the team’s new arena. Dana volunteered to go fi rst. “Anyone who
went after me started pulling lines that I said, so I was so glad I
went fi rst,” she says. “I was the only one hired that weekend.”
Eventually, the contact who hired Dana in Phoenix went to
work for the Dallas Cowboys. Homesick, Dana moved back to
Texas, called up her old contact and asked for a little nudge to
help her get a foot in the door of the Cowboys organization.
It worked and Dana took an entry level position, knowing
she could work—and network—her way to something bigger
and better.
Today, Dana sells season tickets and suite rentals for the
Cowboys as a Senior Sales Consultant. She also interviews
players, cheerleaders, celebrities and even Jerry Jones himself
as a contributor to the organization’s female-targeted website
www.5pointsblue.com. No, she’s not one of
those Jones’, but she
is making a name for herself in the organization.
Through it all, Dana says she’s learned being a good
communicator is really about being a good listener. “Anytime
you communicate with the people who can make decisions
about your career, pay attention to how they communicate with
you,” says Dana. “I always tell people don’t burn bridges and be
sure to network as much as you can.”
evolve. In a world where the pace of technological change is moving faster than ever before,
Russell made sure to learn a skill that will serve him well, far, far into the future: computer
coding. “It changes the way you work and makes you so much more effi cient,” he says.
Coding is to computer software what DNA is to the human body. Code drives websites
and apps, and is the language that operates computers, cell phones, tablets and more.
Coding is said to be the most important job skill of the future, the foundation for literally
everything driving the technological advancements that will defi ne generations. “I didn’t
start coding until 2011 and now it’s the only thing I do. It’s super effective because there are
all these resources out there, but you have to know how to use them,” says Russell.
Now back home, which is equal parts Texas and laboratory, Russell is hard at work on
his doctorate dissertation at the University of Texas at Austin, detailing research which
could help match potential organ donors with transplant recipients. Russell’s approach to
his dissertation is in itself an experiment. “At UT, one of the bonuses is that we have a super
computer, the 14th largest computer in the world. It’s free for me to use with pretty much
an infi nite amount of time,” he says. “As a country, we’re spending billions of
dollars collecting all this data and putting it online, so I’d like to construct a
dissertation basically for free, using online and computer resources.”
Coding is just one, albeit a very important, example of the kind of skills
dictated by a rapidly changing world and workforce. The Future of Jobs Report
from the World Economic Forum estimates 65 percent of today’s elementary
school children will work in jobs that don’t yet exist. The report predicts the
pace of change in the job market will accelerate even more by 2020, with
steep rises in jobs built around business, fi nance, computers and math. For
young scholars, that forecasts a future where the only thing predictable about
their career prospects will be unpredictability. In Amarillo ISD, the Profi le
of a Graduate initiative will help make sure students are ready for anything.
“We want our scholars to be ready to meet the demands of the workforce,
but, conversely, we want the community and local workforce to be ready for
them,” says Dr. West.
“We’re still going to reinforce the core academics with as much dedication
as we always have. But with the Profi le of a Graduate we’re also going to make
sure our scholars leave us with the skills that match what is needed in the
global workforce.”
About the time Russell was fi nishing his master’s at New York University, a
friend was getting a bio startup going. The company would focus on carrier
genetic testing; science that can determine a person’s risk of passing more
than 300 genetic diseases to their offspring. Once again, Russell jumped at an
opportunity to grow as a scientist. “That was a really cool experience. It was
the fi rst startup I had ever been a part of,” says Russell. “I learned a lot more
and worked with different technologies.”
Russell left Recombine just as it was being sold to a private equity fi rm.
Eventually, Russell hopes to start up his own startup. As evidenced throughout
his career as both scientist and student, that will require a healthy profi ciency
in thinking critically, communicating, collaborating and contributing.
“It’s a useful skill to be able to marshal your force, fi nd collaborators and
cofounders and network and talk. Eventually, you’ll fi nd a critical mass that
will help you get things done.”
“The key to success
is networking.”
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