Don’t be afraid of the curves
During my college years I thought I knew what I wanted, how I wanted it and when I wanted it, but it was completely wrong. Your plan isn’t going to go the way you want it but that’s ok, change is good. Picture by Livianette Cabrera.
by Livianette Cabrera, contributing reporter class of 2011
Yes, I’m doing well. No, it didn’t start right from high school graduation. Just like any other person there were some tough roads to go through to find a path where I wanted to be. From choosing a college, a career path, working, finding balance and success is anything but planned.
The first curve in my straight path was my entry to community college instead of a four year. It was hard to accept and it felt like things were already turning for the worst, not the school of my choice but able to get my associate’s in print journalism. During that time I realized I didn’t want to be a reporter. I loved to tell stories, but not as much as it appeared. It was too easy and scary to admit to myself pursuing journalism wasn’t going to be in my future. I soon found a new interest not far from my journalism foundation in public relations, which was confirmed with my acceptance to the AD/PR program at City College. With PR, I was able to incorporate and improve my writing skills which were necessary if one was to master reputation management and engaging two way conversation. It taught me a lot about how dependent organizations and businesses are those who publically represent them to their target audiences. I loved the fact that I was still writing but this time it wasn’t about looking for a story to keep the public happy, there was a challenge to engage those who needed to know about the client in question. Press releases, fact sheets, event planning, creating a digital presence, it was all new, exciting and reinforced my high school work.
During my last semester I became knowing that my education was coming to an end. I thought to myself: where to go from here? What should I be doing? I freaked out when I didn’t get an awesome internship like everyone. I was working part time doing something unenjoyable, taking five classes and had no idea what was going to be the result of all of this effort.I had no plan for the future, always trying to make the best of the present and it was worrisome. There was nothing but stress just to finish something. There was this road that led to nowhere which led me to feeling completely lost. My PR and advertising skills were put to ultimate test given the task of pulling a campus based campaign promoting students services – as a project manager for my senior thesis.
In two months though, the unknown road curved into a great destination with a chain of events. I passed all of my classes, graduated on time in four years with my bachelors in communications, and with honors. The best part? Receiving an offer of a full time position in social media the very next day. I couldn’t be more thrilled, I finally reached somewhere great. During my college years I thought I knew what I wanted, how I wanted it and when I wanted it, but it was completely wrong. Your plan isn’t going to go the way you want it but that’s ok, change is good.
You’ll have a great plan in place when you finish high school, but you’re going to change lanes and head down a narrower path. You won’t like it at first, and you’ll have no idea how long it’ll be, but you’ll go through the dark tunnel. Don’t be afraid when you have to change lanes whether it’s now in high school, college or beyond. Change is always good and you shouldn’t worry because you’ll end up somewhere great.