Because I’m graduating in (gulp) less than a week, I’ve
spent a lot of time this quarter thinking about what happens after college.
While (f)unemployment sounds slightly appealing after four years of collegiate
classes, I’m really the type of person who wants to get a job as soon as
possible. Last spring when I was interning at SELF, I found that I like working
a lot more than I like being in school. So, while I’m jealous of my grad
school-bound friends because they know what they’ll be doing next September, I
only envy their certainty, not their destination. Others of my friends already
have jobs – working for the government, a bank and Groupon – but unfortunately,
the journalism field doesn’t work like others. There are no recruiters and you
don’t get a job offer at the end of an internship (at least for most of us).
Instead, you send out your resume to everyone who might
possibly be interested, stalk mediabistro like it’s your job and spend days
hoping that every time your phone chimes it’ll be someone getting back to you
about an application you submitted. It’s a little bit stressful and when added
to the stress of trying to complete your degree while also trying to keep up
with extracurricular activities and make the most of your senior year,
well…it’s a lot stressful. That’s why today I’m extra thankful.
Today I have a job interview (which is why I was so quiet yesterday - I was traveling to NYC!). Thanks to connections
forged in past internships I have an interview for a job that I really want.
And though interviews don’t mean jobs – I mean, I hope they do, but they don’t
automatically lead to jobs – they give me hope. Hope that I might make it in
the magazine world, hope that I won’t be living at home for the next couple
years (though I love my parents dearly), hope that all these years of reporting
and writing and editing haven’t been for naught. So cross your fingers for me,
I need some luck today.
