Dakota Jones

C'19

Dakota Jones is a senior at Penn studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with minors in History and Political Science. Dakota still doesn't officially have post-graduation plans in place yet, but he is planning on working before eventually going to graduate school for international relations. His long-term goal is to eventually work in some form of public service. While he doesn't know exactly what that looks like, he is content with not knowing his exact future plans.


L's Taken

9+

"Thank you for applying but..." jobs

  • Center for American Progress Summer Internship
  • PURM
  • Tobin Project
  • Pact, Inc.
  • Just about every consulting/finance job I applied to when I had a mid-senior year crisis before realizing that I wouldn't be happy in those jobs, which is totally okay
  • CarMax
  • Capital One
  • The Harris Poll
  • Redwood Advisors

2

Things I Swore I'd Finish But Never Did

  • Unpacking all my boxes during move-in/move-out
  • Countless TV shows on Netflix (looking at you, Jessica Jones)

3

Everyday L's of Life

  • Probably accidentally spilling coffee on myself at least once a week
  • Tripping going up the stairs on a regular basis
  • Spilling tea on my computer and almost having to dip into my savings to replace it

1

Failures That Seemed Like the End of the World Back Then But Don't Matter in Hindsight

  • Barely getting through ECON 002 with a B! At the time, I thought it was the end of the world and that it meant that I wasn't smart enough to hack it at Penn, but then I realized that I developed a pretty strong work ethic as a result of that class.
On the Bright Side

3

Memories I Made When I Wasn't Studying/Working

  • Going on Spring Break to Spain with one of my best friends at Penn
  • Countless nights with all of my friends in the Polybian Society arguing about political stuff
  • Hanging out with all of my friends from both Alaska and Penn during my summer in D.C.

4

Books I've Read For Fun

  • Promise Me Dad by Joe Biden
  • Social Animal by David Brooks
  • Orr: My Story by Bobby Orr
  • The Plotters by Un-Su Kim

2

Things I'm Proud of That You Won't See on a Resume

  • I signed up for my first half-marathon, which I'm running in a week and a half! Barring any catastrophic events, running this race will be one of my greatest athletic accomplishments!
  • I can bake pretty darn good cookies.

3

Unconventional Skills

  • Defeating just about any challengers in Mario Kart
  • Fantasy hockey! I've been a top-five player in one of the most competitive fantasy hockey leagues on the internet for the past three years.
  • Recognizing Taylor Swift songs solely by their first five seconds

1

Leap of Faith

  • Deciding not to pursue jobs in consulting or finance because they weren't a good personal fit for me