The last couple weeks have taken some getting used to. It seemed in a very small amount of time I went from just working part time at a retail store to all of a sudden having a job doing exactly what I learned about in college.
I graduated from Upper Iowa University in December 2021. There were times where it was incredibly stressful and I just wanted to quit which was mostly thanks to Covid and the strain it put on the lack of face-to-face contact when it came to classes. I have never been good at successfully taking online classes. There’s just something about in-person classes that I have always preferred, so when school went completely online in the spring of 2020, I found myself struggling harder than I ever had.
At the time my job that I kept at home during the summer and holidays was very demanding because it was considered an essential business. I was supposed to be taking three classes online with teachers who had never taught online before. I ended up dropping two of them, which set me back by a semester.
When I found out my friends were all going to graduate on time and I wasn’t, I felt like a failure. However, it worked out for the better. I ended up learning even more and got to take an art class as my last college credit. I got to write and work with my university and learned so much more about the alumni and their own successes.
After finally moving out of my dorm and saying goodbye to all my friends, I really didn’t know what I was going to do next. I knew I always loved writing and editing but it didn’t seem there were a lot of options around St. Cloud at the time.
I scrolled through job postings everyday it seemed and created all kinds of accounts on job apps. It seemed like every place that was hiring wasn’t in my field or required me to have more experience. After about a month of looking, I decided to take a break from filling out applications and just try to relax and enjoy not being in school anymore.
That only lasted a couple weeks before my mom told me about a posting for an editor and I jumped right on it and now here we are. Because of how much journalistic writing I did in college for the first week it kind of felt like I was still just working on a project for class, but to have one of my articles be published felt amazing. I had so much support from my family and friends who were all excited I had found something I truly enjoy.
College is tough and the first few steps afterward can seem even harder or discouraging, but I realized everything will work out in your favor when you’re ready for it. I can’t wait to write even more and meet more people in the community and hear their stories.
