Cutlass Trilogy

Saturday, January 28, 2012

When The Going Get's Tough...

Hello Everyone!

I am looking for a job. Well, really, a career now. I went to talk to the University of Oklahoma Career Services about finding a job, and they are amazing. For the next week, I'm going to be reading about "Great Jobs for English Majors" (Book by Julie DeGalan & Stephen Lambert).

Many important things came up during our conversation and I want to share them with you, maybe you'll take something away from it like it did. I definitely felt more confident in myself after this conversation.

1. Your job or career does not define you.
I explained to her I had always been focused on being a writer. I hadn't even thought of what kind of career I could pursue that wasn't writing. I needed help. I said that I had always felt if I decided on a career, I would forget about writing. That my career would become my life and I wouldn't have time for writing anymore.

She said that my resume, my job, my career did not define me. She pointed to me and said "This is you and you ARE a writer." You need a job that intellectually stimulating, you need something where, at the end of the day, on the weekends, you can write.

This was important to me. It took the fear of finding a job, career, what have you away while keeping my dream of being a writer alive.

2. "Quit saying you want to be a writer. You ARE a writer"
There is so MUCH to language. During our conversation she said, "I want you to work on  saying "I am a writer, because that's what you are." I would correct myself by saying I want to be a published author.

What got me here? Well, so many people around me had said things like, "You can't do anything with that" "I'm just trying to you near reality." When writing full time is the lifestyle I want. I know I can't have that now, but I will! :D

3. There are really a lot of interesting jobs out there that will allow English Majors to use their creative side.
When I think of jobs, I think of retail. I don't like repetition...so I wanted something I could have fun with. She suggested a job in Social Media, HR, Publishing....I really, really liked the Social Media one. So I'm developing excitement and determination.

4. Now, what about Graduate School, you ask?
Well, I'm on the fence, still. I'm trying to decide if I am going for the right reasons. Library Science is a very short MA, it's only 36 hours and mostly online classes...I'm doing my research, but what she made clear to me was that I needed to do what I felt was right and stop trying to please others. Grad School would be a whole other world for me, and I know what I do when I'm not interested in something....

I took many valuable things from this conversation. The one I liked best?
This quote:

"Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drowned your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."  -Steve Jobs




Sums up just about everything we talked about.
I hope you enjoyed this!
<3

10 comments:

  1. That was great advice. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree, great advice and with your Steve Jobs quote. An amazing men for the ages.

    Hey, thanks for the follow; I'm happy to follow back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! I was so glad to have the quote!
      And thank you for following! I look forward to your posts!

      Delete
  3. Best of luck Ashley! Look at it this way: You need a job/career so you are able to keep writing.Find a job to keep the food on the table and keep plugging away at your writing passion and watch for opportunity. You are a writer :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for following my blog. I'm returning the favor. :)

    Job searching is horrible, especially nowadays. But it does sound like you gleaned a lot of inspiring information from your career counselor. I hope it gets you on the right track to a satisfying career that does NOT demand you abandon your passions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for following! I look forward to following you!

      Delete
  5. Thanks for the inspiration. I still cringe at calling myself a writer...I'm so sad and needy!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is really inspiring. I think I'm also in the 'don't get a real job or you'll forget who you are' camp, but I didn't realise it before.
    Good luck with your career!

    ReplyDelete