Not every career begins with a carefully mapped-out plan. For Charles Arsenescu, APUG '18, the path unfolded through a series of experiences that gradually revealed what interested him most: understanding people.
At A Glance
Alum
Charles Arsenescu
Program
BS in Applied Psychology (2018)
Professional Pathway
Senior Client Partner, Reddit
Being in my final year and still feeling 'directionless' was daunting, especially given the nature of the field. Applied Psychology is inherently centered on people... and I felt a heavy pressure to have a 'calling' that I hadn't yet identified."
An early role with the Anaheim Ducks' operations office exposed Charles to the inner workings of a professional sports organization and sparked questions about teamwork, motivation, and human behavior that would later shape his career. As graduation approached, however, what he lacked was not curiosity, but a clear sense of where it was leading him.
An Unanswered Question
The moment that crystallized his path arrived out of nowhere during his senior year. In Dr. Schick’s class, students faced two deceptively simple questions: why choose Applied Psychology, and what comes next? As classmates shared their clear, confident visions, Charles felt a jolt of uncertainty. He had no tidy answer. The field, rooted in service to people, seemed to demand a calling, and he wasn't sure he'd heard it yet.
A few weeks later, everything shifted again. Dr. Schick welcomed three APUG alumni back to campus, each thriving in fields Charles had never imagined. What caught his attention was not their destinations, but the way they described their journeys: a toolkit of adaptable skills, a knack for reading people and systems that fit anywhere. One alumna, once unsure of her own path, spoke with a conviction that felt like a lifeline. Charles reached out. That single conversation led to an interview, the interview opened the door to a new industry, and that first step blossomed into a career.
A Toolkit of Trust and Confidence
Since graduating in 2018, Charles has shaped his career with purpose. He started at FloQast as a Business Development Representative. He brought his talent for translating human insight into results to AuditBoard, then to Amazon as an Account Executive, and later spent 2 years managing partnerships at Walmart Connect. Now, he is a Senior Client Partner at Reddit, where he navigates the crossroads of media, technology, and the vibrant communities that drive them.
What Charles took from Dr. Schick’s classroom was not a job title or a mapped-out future. Instead, the APUG Toolkit had quietly gifted him something deeper: the confidence to embrace uncertainty, to sit with not knowing, and to trust that sometimes the best work starts right there.
For prospective students still searching for their own answers, his advice is straightforward: seek out the alumni. They have found their way, and they remember exactly what it felt like to be searching, too.
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