“How vain to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
My friend presented this Thoreau quote to me one evening as we sat at a sparsely-populated bar waiting for a band to go on, discussing life and the inevitable question of what exactly it is that we want to do with it.
Read MoreWell, I did it. I survived my first week in Corporate America, and I lived to tell the tale.
If you would have told me a year ago that I would be entering the Land of the Cubes after graduating, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m one week in and I still don’t think I would believe it.
Here are a few painfully true stories about my first week on the job for your entertainment.
Read MoreYou always remember your firsts: your first kiss, your first heartbreak and yes, your first job. And much like other firsts, your first job after college is one that will stay with you for the rest of your life. It sets the tone for the decisions you will make throughout your career. In other words, your first job is what prepares you for lifelong professional success.
Read MoreSometimes I take to the Internet to research my personality weaknesses, mainly in attempt to justify these tendencies. I’m an INFP. Reflective, but struggles to act. Good! This explains a lot! *doesn’t act to improve upon that*
Even this late in the game, graduation sometimes feels less like a reality and more like vague, hazy concept. Except it is real and it is only one month away. I should probably figure something out soon if I have any intention on being a contributing citizen of the world. LOL, this is my nightmare.
Read MoreThe funniest part is that I used to have a plan and would constantly stress about this "plan." I was going to be some badass executive or politician. I spent my college career trying to live up to everyone's expectations of me and my future. I put so much pressure on myself to make it seem like I had my shit together all the time. I needed to be successful...whatever that means.
Read MoreI struggle to find a sufficient answer to the question "What will you do after graduation?". Truth is, I don’t know what I’ll do after graduation. Yet “I don’t know” is deemed an unsatisfactory answer, as if not being able to foresee the future is somehow a flaw only you harbor.
Read MoreI knew that living at home would be temporary, so I dedicated myself to finding a job at a fashion magazine in NYC. I applied to publication after publication every day for weeks. But after a couple months of receiving rejection emails, I realized that maybe moving to the Big Apple wasn’t meant to be for me. So, I began looking for opportunities at companies in the Midwest and after six months of searching, I accepted a copywriter position at a jewelry company in suburban Kansas.
Read MoreWhat I’ve also found is a large number of college graduates don’t know the first thing about dressing professionally. It’s not because they don’t want to, but they just don’t know HOW. It’s so important to make a good impression when starting a new job, and dressing properly is the key to starting your career.
So fear not, I have made a list of guidelines that I personally live by on how to dress professionally.
Read MoreNothing can replace face-to-face engagement when you are on the job hunt. At that meeting I met one of the ladies I had been emailing, and I introduced myself to the group she was talking with. I gave my resume to a few who said they might know of openings for me. I left the meeting feeling good but the only immediate lead was in ad sales for the local newspaper—not exactly promising.
Read MoreOver the past month, I’ve found myself at a huge divide over my future. My original plan was to apply for graduate school in London and spend a year abroad earning my Masters in Public Relations. I even got my passport expedited so I could send in my applications early. I was full speed ahead and not looking back.
Read MoreAs a recent graduate, I’ve spent the past several months frantically searching for jobs, trying to kick start my career in God-knows-what and find some way to financially support myself until I figure out what I really want to do. Here is my update: the job market is hell. Apparently “entry-level” now requires two to four years experience, a personal reference from Obama and a blessing from the Pope.
Read MoreWe’ve all heard the idiom “when it rains, it pours.” When something goes wrong, it feels like everything else that could possibly go wrong, does. Maybe your storm is very literal. Maybe it’s raining as you power-walk to campus on your way to an 8 a.m. test, and just as you’re about to cross the street, a car’s wheels catch a nearby puddle and douse you. (True story, y’all.) Or maybe your storm is abstract: the stress of life hangs over you like one of those cartoon thunderstorm clouds.
Read MoreI’ve been interning with the same company since the summer of 2013. I received a call from my boss literally right before I was about to walk into graduation telling me she wanted me to work as an intern for a bit longer until the paperwork was sorted for a full-time offer. Besides excitement (obviously) for a job right out of college, my first thoughts were: I have to decorate my desk. I won’t survive unless I decorate my desk.
Read MoreNow ten months after it was confirmed that my really expensive brain had earned me a nice family dinner and a shiny document signed by my university’s president, I’m finally realizing that college really just readied our greatest assets to brave the storm of the real world.
We are creative. We are flexible. We have energy.
And we now more than ever, we have the green light to fake it ‘til we make it.
Read MoreI don’t think there’s really a way to prepare for the dynamic change that happens between graduation and life beyond college, but some part of me thinks that a Construction Science class or two might have helped me get started on rebuilding the foundation of my life post-grad. I had grown accustomed to waking up early, going to school, doing homework and going to sleep. I was used to the college perks of having friends just 10 feet or a 10-minute drive away. If I stayed up too late, I didn’t really have to go to my 8 a.m. (sorry, Mom), and if I didn’t want to study, Netflix enabled me to waste afternoons wondering when Ted was finally going to catch a break.
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