As college students who are preparing for our future careers, we are often presented with situations in which we are expected to dress up and wear business casual attire. Whether this is for an internship, presentation, observation hours, job interviews, or any other career related event, it is safe to assume that each of us will have to dress up for an event at some point during our academic career.
As students, we may find that we do not have the funds to purchase expensive attire, but sometimes we cannot get out of it because we are required to be prepared and look professional in certain situations. Because of this, the University of North Dakota and its surrounding businesses offer a lot of opportunities to help students out with finding affordable, accessible, and appropriate clothing items that will help them grow themselves professionally before actually stepping out into the field of work.
One event that takes place in town is the JC Penney Suit-Up event that happens at least once a semester, typically towards the beginning. JC Penney, a clothing store in the mall will host the event in which college students can shop for career wear, consisting of clothing, shoes, and accessories and get a 30% discount on their purchases by presenting their valid student ID. If you are interested in shopping for affordable new career related attire, you may consider stopping by the next time that this event happens. Be sure to mark your calendars because this event will be taking place soon on January 28th between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Another great resource for finding accessible professional clothing as a college student is right here on campus. Career Services has their Career Closet, available to all UND students. This place allows students to select three pieces of clothing per semester to take as their own at no cost. The Career Closet is in McCannel Hall, Room 190 and is open for appointments Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. All the pieces found here are donated by members of our community and it is a great resource for students to find professional attire.
There is no doubt that most students here at UND will need to dress up in career wear at some point during their time here. Because of this, it is important to stay involved in learning what options you have as a student and what opportunities are available to you here on campus to find easily accessible methods of shopping for this sometimes-unaffordable style of clothing.
Nora Lee is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
