Hilary Corna kicks off the University Day theme _This I Believe_ with her inspiring story and #dareyourself movement.
What did you do when you graduated from college? You probably didn’t buy a one-way plane ticket to Singapore with nothing but $2,000, a dream and two months to find a job. This is exactly what Hilary Corna, author of “One White Face” and the woman behind the #dareyourself movement, did.
Corna was a part of the Distinguished Lecturer Series and helped kick off University Day by speaking directly after the poster session. In addition, she attended some of the afternoon classes to share her story and invite students to attend the talk in the evening.
Corna knew that when she graduated, she wasn’t going to settle for an ordinary job just because she was a fresh, female college graduate. Instead, after months of contemplation and people telling her that she was being unrealistic, Corna bought a one-way plane ticket to Singapore. She didn’t even tell her mom until she had already bought the ticket. She arrived in Singapore and gave herself an ultimatum: she had $2,000 and two months to find a job. If she didn’t find a job by the end of the two months or ran out of money, she would go back home. Corna was determined, however, and ended up landing a job as the senior executive officer for Toyota in Asia. In this position, she managed a team of people across 14 different countries.
In her Tuesday evening talk, she told her story to an audience of all ages. After her time with Toyota, Corna was inspired to become a keynote speaker. “In my four years of college, I never had a female speaker come to my campus,” she said. “I wanted to be the speaker I never had and I wanted to also be the support I never had.”
Corna started the #dareyourself movement to inspire others to go after their dreams and not to let people tell you any differently. Her story and message was well met by the audience. She was very interactive and engaged the crowd by daring them to go after their dreams.
“Being part of Hilary Corna’s presentation was an amazing opportunity and a once-in-a-lifetime deal,” UMPI student Evan Zarkadas said. “Her experience and her motivation were truly inspiring. I decided to go because of her talk about leadership, which is a skill that is very desired in today’s market world and society. I think that taking part in her seminar really empowered me.”
Corna’s final words of advice were to say yes to opportunity. “Every experience is an opportunity to learn and the more you get used to saying yes, the easier it is to handle rejection and failure when things don’t go as planned.”
Corna encourages everyone to join the #dareyourself movement by saying yes to something you’ve always wanted to do and just do it. Don’t let the unknown hold you back.
