Career Spotlight: Lost to Liberated

A short read for a short reflection

A year ago today, I was in my first internship role and working part-time at J.Crew. I was in my junior year at Baruch and had no idea what I was going to do career-wise. I had so many different positions since high school. From frosting cakes off the books to working in takeout at a pizzeria, waitressing, all the way to being a TA for a poverty history class.

I had experience in everything I didn’t want to do, and I would spend even more of my time doing things I didn’t enjoy for months after that. There did come a time when I stopped working for a while, and I wasn’t picking up job after job. I took a step back and didn’t apply for anything for a while, or at least until I could get my interests in order.

I was giving a friend at the time advice about work, applying for jobs and whatnot. They grew frustrated, saying, “You don’t even have an internship right now.” I was snapped to the reality of my situation. I was lost. And super unhappy.

It wasn’t until an office visit to Publicis Health (PH) that I could sense my purpose shaping. I was exposed to health and wellness and a side of advertising I didn’t even know about. I knew about other types of advertising, and nothing about it appealed to me. Advertising chips and rainboots seemed like an unfulfilling waste of time, despite the creativity involved.

When I applied to the PH intern program, I felt a new excitement. I practiced for, no exaggeration, five hours for the video interview. I emailed people in the program to begin networking. I studied the website inside and out.

When it came to the second round phone interviews, I studied my interviewers for days. I prepared questions and put myself in the perfect spot to take the calls uninterrupted. And when the offer was made, I felt tears of joy run down my warm face.

“Of course I accept,” I said in utter joy. That summer, that internship, that all-encompassing experience shaped a lot of my future. My curiosity for learning was fed, and I was happy to go to work every day, from as early as 8 AM to as late as 7 PM.

I found job security in a full-time offer 10 months before graduation. I found myself and found a reason to begin writing again (hence the Fall from Grace Blog). I found friendships, and a little something more (hence the amazing girlfriend).

I don’t think that work experience made me who I am today. But it certainly shaped the direction of my future, and therefore, helped me narrow down my purpose.

Your career is what you make of it. Opportunities will present themselves, but it’s up to you to take control of them. Whether that’s through throwing yourself into the snake pit of risk-taking or meeting the President of your agency, you better seize and make opportunities for yourself.