Ah, the question that has been looming over my head since May 7 (and even before that). What's next? What's the next step for me now that I have a B.A. in English-Writing and am X amount of dollars in student loan debt?
Unlike many other students, I didn't know what career I wanted to pursue until my junior year of college. Honestly, it was toward the end of my junior year of college when I was applying for summer internships and jobs. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I had just finished taking a course in Public Relations, so I figured I could do something along those lines.
I ended up working as an unpaid intern at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago as a Marketing Intern during Summer 2016. After that internship and my part-time job as a Marketing and Social Media Coordinator at an insurance agent's office that summer, I felt like I knew what I wanted to do--somewhat. It wasn't until my first semester of my senior year when I really knew what I wanted to do: Digital Marketing.
I was so adamant about not going into Marketing or Advertising in the past. To be quite honest, I thought anyone who worked in Advertising or Marketing were dirty liars, and I didn't want to be a dirty liar. So, I stuck to my guns and majored in English-Writing and minored in Spanish (Hispanic Studies) because those were the two subjects I knew the best. Also, I truly loved English and writing, so it just made sense.
I had received countless questions on what I would do after I graduated. It wasn't because those people were genuinely curious. It was because teaching is literally the only thing you can do if you major in any of the humanities (which is so far from true, but that's not the point of this blog post).
When I took my first (and only) Digital Marketing and Communications course while abroad in Dublin, Ireland, I thought to myself: "Now this is something I can see myself doing in the future." I actually did all of the reading we were assigned; I took diligent notes in my notebook and on my laptop; I asked questions during and after class; I was passionate about the final projects due at the end of the semester. It was great. I finally had some kind of knowledge of what I wanted to do with my future.
But, when the semester ended, it was time for me to look up jobs and internships after graduation. I'm not going to lie, I applied for 30 positions between December and March, and I probably applied to another 20 or so up until now. Some of the companies never responded. The majority of the companies sent me the "Thank you so much for your interest in our company, but we have decided to pursue other candidates whose talents align more with the position" email. And the places that I finally landed an interview for turned me down or never contacted me again.
It can get discouraging and depressing at times because there are the "what did I do wrong" and "I'll never get accepted" thoughts. But with a support system that constantly (and sometimes annoyingly) pushes me to keep going and never give up, I know I'll find something that interests me. I know a company will offer me a position. And those companies that haven't offered me a position just weren't meant for me. Something better will come along.
So, to answer the question "what next?," I'll continue applying and hoping that something comes along. I mean, something has to, right? I can't live off of my graduation money forever!