Easing on down the honey brick road.

Disclaimer: A couple of weeks ago I tweeted, “I’m going to hold myself to writing “A Year In Review” every May. I will celebrate my victories, learn from my defeats & plan what’s next.” So here’s part one.

Where has the time gone? I graduated from college one year and nearly two weeks ago. I am flipping out. Spending four years in a college town convinced me that once I was done everything was going to be perfect, despite the job crisis. I also thought I was the exception. I had four major internships over two years and I knew I had something the other applicants didn’t have. Experience? Kinda. Drive? Absolutely. After applying for 100 plus jobs between February and May, I started to realize that I was nothing close to the exception, but I was just like every other college student who had absolutely no idea what was coming next.

My dream was to move to New York City within a month. I’d snag an internship and live with my uncle until that internship became a job or I landed something else. At that point, even getting an internship was hard. Most summer internships had already started, and there I was emailing editors from my sofa, which I hadn’t left for days at a time.

The beginning of June was fun. It was still a celebratory period, but the celebration was coming to an end. I still didn’t have a plan and I still hadn’t made it to New York. Mid-June led me to my lowest of all lows. This was the moment I felt like my four years of undergraduate meant absolutely nothing and that everyone in my life lied to me. I hate to be that girl (not really) and quote Drake when I’m trying to be serious, but he said it perfectly: “You hate the fact that you bought the dream when they sold you one.” Oh Drake, but I do. 

Up until mid June, I was convinced that I was invincible. Everyone in my corner told me I was a catch. They told me my luck would turn around because I deserved it. They told me no one had the experiences I had and that’s what made me a great candidate. I started to live in this dream world where I really believed that my favorite magazine was going to call offering me a position or that one of the jobs I applied for back in March finally stumbled upon my resume and couldn’t wait to talk to me. This was not the case. I became desperate. I applied at the Starbucks Coffee shops in my neighborhood. I had been slinging lattes for four years, so that couldn’t be too bad, right?  Or what about the GAP? They were getting a chunk of my money anyway, so why not put in some work to earn income and a discount? I wasn’t sure if I wanted the money or I just wanted to be able to say, “I’m employed.”

Things turned around at the end of June. I discovered a company that I had never heard of and they were looking for a Marketing Assistant. I found the job on Twitter, which no one ever believes. (Combining words in the Twitter search bar is a hobby of mine.) After a few emails, phone interview and a second interview (which turned into my first day), I had a job. I couldn’t have been happier. I was starting to feel like everything was coming together. Two problems: I was part time and still not in New York. I couldn’t worry about that. I had to celebrate the victory of getting my first “real job” and enjoy the rest of my summer while I figured everything out.