Carlos Reese, a student at Westcliff University, sits next to the Emerge online program and Jennifer Hirashiki, M.A., the Director of Learning, Innovation, and Teaching Excellence at Westcliff. Reese relies on the Emerge program to help with his email etiquette and professional development.

In winter 2020, Carlos Reese had a three-week break between college semesters.

Rather than take it easy or binge the newest show on Netflix, the international student did the unexpected.

He hit the books.

More specifically, Reese dove into the Emerge online program and learned dozens of important professional development skills like email and phone etiquette.

A soccer player at Westcliff University, a private school in Irvine, CA, Reese used Emerge to gain an edge in the job market. Reese hails from Hamburg, Germany and also valued the Rubin program because it helped to strengthen his English writing and speaking skills.

“Emerge has no limits, and I can learn as much as I want,” Reese said. “Before the Rubin program, I would need to ask my parents to review emails I need to send to employers and others. Now I have the confidence to press ‘send’ myself.”

Reese is among dozens of Westcliff students who have used Emerge in the 2019-2020 academic year to become stronger communicators as they pursue career opportunities.

The Westcliff University Career Services Department has piloted Emerge since fall 2019 and made the resource available to students across campus through career services programming.

Emerge contains 100+ short assignments that teach proper communication skills for employment scenarios (ex: emails to seek jobs, resumes, cover letters and thank-you notes) along with writing/speaking guides for entrepreneurship and leadership.

“After Carlos went through the Emerge program, I could see a difference in his email correspondence,” said Jennifer Hirashiki, M.A., the Director of Learning, Innovation, and Teaching Excellence at Westcliff. “We have a professor in place to review the work students complete in the Rubin program, but the exercises are self-directed.”

Reese also made special note of the Rubin activities that teach how to write an effective LinkedIn profile. Now he has a LinkedIn profile live on the web and uses it to develop important business connections.

“Emerge opened a brand-new world to me,” said Reese.

Incredible what a student can do with a three-week break.