I cannot believe that school is about to start again and I will not be going. Even though it's been about 8-months since graduation, it still feels a little strange that I am no longer a student. No more school supplies or back-to-school shopping... no more syllabi and reading schedules... While I must admit the idea that I won't have any more exams is awesome, there are parts of the student life that I miss. The freedom to do just about anything you want at any given time, of course that was a perk of college life! The days of study sessions in Starbucks or the Library, who would possibly miss those? Well, I'm a bit of a nerd and I must admit I loved a good study day. Throwing on my comfy jeans and heading to Library West for hours upon hours of studying and homework... I must admit I loved it. Finding the perfect "cozy" spot to lay out all my materials and books and then getting into the zone with my favorite Pandora station playing on my headphones. I kinda miss those days!
Now don't get me wrong. The days of stressing out over final exams and group projects and whether or not everyone was going to do their part in a timely fashion... I am glad those days are in the past. But, those moments of utter satisfaction when a stressful group project has been successfully turned in, those moments were amazing. The feeling you get from the stratification of knowing all your hard work and stressful nights payed off. Those are the moments a college student lives for and well, at least for the time being... those days are behind me.
I haven't been up to Gainesville to visit my beloved alma mater since March and I am starting to really miss it. Gainesville is my second home. While I am glad I made the decision to leave it for the time being (I needed to step back from college life by leaving the college town life), I wouldn't mind moving back there one day if the right opportunity presented itself.
Now many of you may be wondering what I've been up to since graduation...
Well here is a little life update!
After all the craziness of the holidays was over (I graduated in December), I began applying for jobs (in my hometown... I've been living at home). I started by e-mailing or calling people in my network that might be able to help me during my job-search process. I set up meetings with these individuals to talk to them about what types of jobs I was interested in and what my skills are. These were very casual meetings just to let people know I was home and in the market for a job.
These meetings led me to three part-time jobs.
My first part-time job was with a local event planning firm working on a large huge festival they were in the middle of planning. They were in the market for some PR/Marketing/social media help and I was able to lend them a hand. This job was only a few days a week and much of the work could be done from home. I attended weekly strategy meetings and the rest was pretty much up to me. The event planner was very helpful and was always there to lend a helping hand to guide me through this learning process. I worked with this firm through their event (it was a temporary job).
Since the event marketing job was only a few days a week, I began working part-time with the Lakeland Economic Development Council writing for their blog, YLakeland.com. YLakeland is a blog about all things Lakeland geared toward young adults and college students in Lakeland and the surrounding areas. I wrote blog posts all about my life after graduation and my job search. I also gave some job hunting and resume tips based on my experiences (and research). This job ended in May, since the local college students leave town for the summer... the organization does some different things with their website during the summer.
Check out my articles here!
Most recently I have been working for a local PR/Advertising Firm. The firm has offices in Boston, Chicago and Lakeland, but the employees work mostly from their homes and via Skype. Working from home has been nice, since it allows for a lot of flexibility. However, I am realizing their are a lot of downsides to this arrangement also. As a marketing intern for this firm, I have been able to broaden my marketable skills by learning programs such as Google Analytics and Google Adwords and assisting in a variety of different projects. I have had the opportunity to work on marketing for small-to-medium sized companies and political campaigns. By working side-by-side with the founder of the firm, I have gained a great deal of insight into the industry and learned a lot along the way. I am still working part-time with this organization and I continue to grow as an advertising professional.
Oh and on top of having all these part-time gigs I've been babysitting and of course, blogging!
Needless to say, I have had quite a number of experiences and opportunities since graduation and I cannot wait to find the perfect full-time fit for me (which, I will of course update y'all on!).
I hope this wasn't too ramblely (is that even a word...)!
Happy Monday!
xoxo
i just graduated this spring too, and i feel so weird that i'm not going back to school this fall either. you seem to be doing well since graduation, congrats on those jobs and it seems like you're really making your career goals come true. cheers!
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Alicia / River City Chic