Educational and career paths often have unexpected twists and turns. From journalism to pharmacology to communications, Molly Marks was no exception. But two significant interests bubbled to the top 鈥 events and not-for-profits.
In addition to working for not-for-profits, Molly has volunteered her fundraising and event planning skills with multiple organizations outside of 51吃瓜网万能科大. And she's continually pitching in on efforts within the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering.
In 2020 she was recognized by the with the Ramona Lesley Dedicated Service Award for her work engaging K-12 students in engineering. Several years earlier she had taken over the college's Introduce a Kid to Engineering Day (IKED), spearheading its significant growth. IKED now hosts more than 300 children participants, 50 student volunteers, and corporate community partners over two consecutive Saturdays during EWeek every February.
What inspired you to get into your field?
I was actually approached at a barbeque when I was part of a student group at the College of Southern Nevada. I was being called up for an award, and the presenter, who was also my teacher and friend at the time, was saying very nice things about me.
Another woman receiving an award turned to me and, based on what the presenter was saying, said, 鈥淲atch out, you might get roped into what I do.鈥 From there, I actually interned with her and found out that I love doing events, and I love not-for-profits. I worked for a few not-for-profits before landing here at 51吃瓜网万能科大.
What drew you to 51吃瓜网万能科大?
I鈥檓 an alum of 51吃瓜网万能科大 and graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in communication studies after transferring from CSN. I was in between jobs, looking for what I wanted to do next, and saw this position come up. So I applied. I thought it sounded interesting, doing events for engineers. And boy do they do a lot of events!
What was the last big project you completed and how did you celebrate or decompress?
The last big project was our Spring Senior Design Competition. I celebrated with all of the kids at the awards dinner. How I decompressed would have been waking up at 6 a.m. the next morning, to spend the day at the softball and baseball fields with my kids. Not much decompression there, now that I think about it.
How has Senior Design changed since you started at 51吃瓜网万能科大?
It has grown tremendously as our college, and the number of students in our programs, have grown. While every engineering and computer science student has to complete the capstone course, they aren鈥檛 required to participate in the competition. However, most do. This past spring we had the largest number ever of students and teams participating 鈥 52 teams total.
It鈥檚 exciting, but also nerve-wracking to make sure everything goes smoothly for the students, our judges and the public who comes to see the projects.
What is the biggest misconception about your job?
That you basically wave a wand and magic happens. There鈥檚 a lot of effort, planning, and post work that goes into every single event that we do. And I think that is the unsung part of any event position.
What can people do to make your job easier?
Plan. Know that there are time restraints and the further ahead you reach out, the more successful we will all be with your end goals.
What did you previously want to do when you grew up?
I originally wanted to be a journalist. I did that in high school, working on the senior yearbook and newspaper and didn鈥檛 really like it that much. I went to school to become a pharmacist because that鈥檚 what my mom wanted me to become. I hated biology but loved communications, so I switched to a communications major and then fell into events. I never thought I鈥檇 be working for a university. I never thought I鈥檇 be working with engineers and doing events for them.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I think probably what most people would say, which is, cherish the moment that you鈥檙e in as opposed to just looking forward to being an adult. Harness the fun and the freedom that you have when you have it.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I guess that even though I鈥檓 very outspoken and outgoing, I have a very hard time advocating for myself. I鈥檓 great at advocating for others, so I think it is a surprise to people when I don鈥檛 for myself.
Is there a book you currently can鈥檛 put down?
A book I read recently that I like is . (Rachel Hollis) It鈥檚 written by a mom who strives to be perfect, make sure that her house was always perfect before she let anyone come over, her kids were perfectly behaved, and it was just taking the joy out of her life. She finally realized that people should simply love her for who she is, or don鈥檛. And she has a much happier life now letting people into her home when it isn鈥檛 perfect, letting her kids do what they enjoy and have fun, and not worrying about what the appearances are to others.
What鈥檚 your guilty pleasure?
Disneyland! Anything Disney-related.
Growing up in Southern California we had passes and that was just a thing my whole family would do on the weekends or holidays. We鈥檇 either go to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, or Universal Studios. And then as I got older, that was something my mom and I would do; we鈥檇 even leave dad at home and go on trips.
Once my husband and I had kids, it was very important to keep that tradition because that was a piece of my mom. She鈥檚 not around now but we have those old memories and Grandma always get pulled into the new memories we鈥檙e making because we talk about her.
What is the worst advice you鈥檝e been given?
There hasn鈥檛 really been any bad advice, because I think you learn from every piece of information you鈥檙e given. I think there are things that obviously I look back and think I shouldn鈥檛 have taken that advice but I don鈥檛 know if it was necessarily bad because it probably molded me into who I am today.
What would your last meal be?
Spaghetti Factory. Manager鈥檚 favorite. Half of it is mizithra cheese and brown butter sauce, the other half rich meat sauce. And the salad has pesto dressing. It is delightful! I鈥檝e grown up on Spaghetti Factory, I love Spaghetti Factory and I don鈥檛 get it all the time because I have to be in Southern California to have it. But I鈥檒l be having it soon when we go to Disneyland for this summer鈥檚 family vacation!
