I Was an English Major

Ted, you kill me.

from youtube

A funny thing happened last week: someone engaged me in a conversation about my English degree and literature. Yeah, you heard me. I talked about literature outside of my undergrad years and yes, I have my degree in English. I am not ashamed, despite however much society may try to ostracize those who choose to pursue a degree in the liberal arts as opposed to one with a natural progression towards specific career choices. I understand where the disapproval and exclusion stems from -- most people just don't get it. My choice in major was almost always met with a look of concern and then the subsequent reaction: "So you want to be a teacher then?" No. I do not want to be a teacher. I have the utmost respect for all of my teachers (especially my English teachers), but actually, choosing to pursue my undergraduate degree in English does not mean that my only option upon graduation is to teach. Just because you have an English degree and then become a teacher does not mean that this progression of events necessarily implies causality.

Since graduating, I have obviously chosen not to pursue the path that so many think is oft taken by others with my degree. And while I haven't doubted my decision not to pursue a teaching career, I cannot say that I haven't doubted my decision to pursue my undergraduate degree in English. *GASP* I know, I know, I really am not supposed to admit that on behalf of my fellow literature-lovers and bibliophiles -- after all, we already have to defend our chosen path tooth-and-nail in order to prove its legitimacy as a field of study (and we certainly have been for years and still are.) The last thing the English degree needs is another adversary, especially one with insider knowledge. But I know I'm not alone in my doubt. However, when I say I'm not alone, I mean that I know other students of all types of degrees have second-guessed the academic route they travelled in those fun, albeit confusing, four years.

I obviously don't use my skills of literary analysis and comprehension on a regular basis (and certainly not in my current job), so from time to time, I wonder if I would have benefitted from a different degree. Should I have chosen a field of study catered to a specific profession? One that would most certainly guarantee a life of the big bucks (hello, engineering!)? Did I have it all wrong in choosing something that I most definitely love to learn about and even more so, am passionate about? Who is the fool here? Please don't say it's me!

But when I found myself enveloped in a conversation regarding my studies as an English major and then my thoughts on literature (works of literature, how to define literature, what should be considered canonical, different ways to analyze texts, literature as a field of study, etc), I realized that, even over a year out of the classroom, my love for my English degree remained steady and true. I was revitalized! I was impassioned! I was talking about literature!

I realized that even though I haven't been able to utilize and optimize the skills I developed and strengthened over the years as an English major, they are still tucked away in the file-cabinets of my mind, anxiously anticipating and waiting for the moment they are able to be brushed off and opened up again. This doesn't mean that my skills are never put to use. My studies in English literature have given me a communicative edge: I efficiently, clearly and effectively can communicate a message, something that is important in all facets of business and life. I understand the power of word choice and how to manipulate language in a way that can get you what you want and say what you want. I find that the ability to speak well and write well are too often undervalued, and yet, I was able to learn those skills as an English major. I still love to discuss literature -- dissecting text, analyzing potential meaning, carefully looking at diction, metaphors, and any other literary device you want to throw in there. I wish I was able to incorporate this love into my everyday life more often, aside from the occasional discussion of a book I happen to be reading or on the off-chance I am able to convince someone to get down and dirty with some literary analysis.

When choosing my major, I went with my gut and what inspired me to my core. I fully realize, especially now that I am in the workforce, that my passion may not necessarily guarantee a life of financial prosperity, but I think I am okay with that.If happiness is the goal, then I don't know if pursuing a degree in something that I didn't truly love for the sake of a big paycheck would be able to help me achieve that goal. It is a small sacrifice in the name of preserving my soul.

Shout-out to my allies in literary pride!

Friday Updates

Just wanted to post a brief update to give a sense of closure to this week. I have been feverishly applying and searching for jobs to no avail recently, but with a helpful suggestion from a fellow job hunter, I applied to this one company and have a preliminary interview on Monday. As you can imagine, I am very excited. When you're applying to job after job, it can be disheartening when you receive no response and no call for an interview. Getting that initial interview is so key, because then that's when you finally get to prove why you're fit for the job and show your potential employer all of your star qualities that exist outside of that 8 x 11 inch piece of paper. Every time I get an interview, I am extremely hopeful and this time is no different, as I feel that all I need is a chance. A resume really doesn't entirely do justice to someone's capabilities or potential, so while I feel like I'm pretty good on paper, I think I am even better in person. Hopefully that will prove true on Monday, so wish me luck and hopefully I will have some more news then! 

Lessons Learned: What Past Jobs Taught Me

In an earlier post, I promised to post what I have learned from past jobs. I think it's important to reflect on previous employment experiences and skills learned because it's crucial to understanding what you can bring to a new job. I'd like to think I have pretty diverse past job experiences, as I have worked in a variety of different fields, and have been working since high school, for better or for worse. I'll share with you the good, the bad, and the ugly that I've encountered in my eight years of working.

Retirement Home:
In high school, I worked for a small retired living facility as their "pantry worker." Essentially, I was responsible for serving the residents drinks, assisting with the preparation and serving of meals, and maintaining general cleanliness at the home. Most of the time, I felt like I was just doing chores at someone else's house with the only difference being the entire house was filled with old people. It was an easy job, but I heard a lot of interesting stories from the residents and even befriended one 96-year-old woman in particular, hearing about all of her adventures when she was younger. Aside from teaching me to maintain a particular level of neatness, patience and politeness, working at the retirement home taught me a lot about people in general. Here was a community of eldery senior citizens who still had gusto for learning new things and going out and having their own little adventures. Talking to the residents taught me to seize the day. Being able to have that thirst for life and learning is something important to have no matter what age, and it is certainly something I consider important in my own life as I am always looking to learn something new, explore a new place or try a new activity.

Nothing better than a good book. Except maybe when you don't get to read it and have to give it away to someone else.

Books:
Another high school job I had during the week when I wasn't working at the retirement home was at a small online book company. As someone with a degree in English, I loved being surrounded by new books, holding pages filled with stories in my hands and sending them off to some lucky person. The premise of the company was that you could order book packages online as a gift and have them sent over a chosen amount of weeks/months for that person, so I was in charge of receiving the books, packaging them and sending all of them out. On top of that, I updated the bestsellers pamphlets that were included in each package. My job duties were pretty straightforward, but this job was unique because I was always alone. When I said that it was a small business -- I meant it. Essentially, I had to figure things out by myself as I went. Sure, I got trained by someone, but then I was left to work on my own every day I went in for several months. I learned how to troubleshoot by myself and manage my time so that everything was done so that the packages were sent out for the day. Working by myself regularly definitely forced me to motivate myself, even without a boss hovering, and to find ways to be efficient when working solo so that I wasn't stressed out by the end of the day.

Life at the mall:
During college breaks, I gravitated towards the mall to make some extra cash. I worked at two separate stores in a span of a few years and managed to work both the Christmas season and summer season. Working in retail requires a huge amount of patience because of the variety of people that come into the store and inevitably manage to make a mess out of it. I did your standard retail duties: working at the cashier, folding and hanging clothes, maintaining store neatness, watching over the fitting rooms, and, my personal favorite, greeting people at the front of the store. As someone who loves fashion, I definitely enjoyed being able to see what new styles were being offered, giving people advice on what to pair items with and the generous discounts. However, it could definitely defeat me at times. The yummy-mummies who would take their toddlers to the mall, try on 18 items only ten minutes before the store closed and then leave all of the items on the floor? Yeah, that happened more than once. However, working at the mall taught me the value of good customer service and how rewarding it can be to make someone's shopping experience that much easier. Even when I was annoyed because someone knocked down an entire rack of clothes (yes, that really happened), I told them not to worry about it, cleaned it up by myself, and kept a smile on my face the whole time. I realized that you have to go with the flow sometimes -- and if you keep a smile on your face, you'll probably end up feeling better about a bad situation than if you let the irritation consume you.

Ah yes, the mall. I have spent countless hours here, both making money and spending it.

The Temp:
For a brief few weeks while looking for a full-time job over the summer, I temped as a "Director of First Impressions" (aka receptionist) for a up-and-coming company. I had one day to train with the person who was off on vacation and then left to figure out the rest on my own. I was vaguely familiar with the usual administrative tasks required of receptionists, but the whole desk seemed foreign to me. I had to fax, print, and manage the visitors/guests coming into the office, and could only rely on the memory of my brief training to do so correctly. I did it though. The first day was definitely the hardest, but I got the hang of it. I also was responsible for answering the phones and directing customers to customer services and helping them solve their problems -- and for someone who knew very little about the company (about 24 hours worth of knowledge), I had to be their voice of reason. I quickly had to learn how to provide excellent customer service over the phone, mitigate the angry complaints of callers,  and ultimately, help them get what they needed. Again, I had to learn a degree of patience on the job, but I also realized that I was able to learn and adapt quickly to a new environment and new things. After my brief temping period concluded, they actually called me back a few times to see if I could fill in again.

Meet my former BFF: The telephone. Always ringing, always with someone needing something from me on the other end.

Office Slave 101:
After temping, I became a full on administrative assistant for the rest of the summer and into the winter, pending my class schedule. With the help of my aunt, I got a job at a real estate attorney's office and was suddenly responsible for requesting municipal lien certificates and insurance binders, setting up appointments, putting together bank packages and sending them back to the bank and then doing other things around the office as needed. I was thrust into an office where I knew nothing about real estate or buying, selling and refinancing and had to learn to be quick and efficient while also getting things done right the first time. I had to learn to manage my time and prioritize so that I could get the appropriate documents at the time they were needed and make sure that I helped my bosses instead of hinder them and make them do more work. Ultimately, I learned, that at the end of the day, you want to be helping your team and making everyone's jobs easier as opposed to slowing them down. I proved that not only could I keep up, but I was able to take on more responsibility and be a go-to person for certain tasks.

One of my many excellent bulletin boards that I made as an RA.
This one was especially great because I was simultaneously able to use glitter while embarrassing my residents. 

The RA Years:

Just another night on duty.

From sophomore year of college up until graduation, I was a Resident Advisor. Now I know the stigma associated with RAs and maybe you personally had a bad experience with an RA, but I assure you -- we are not the bad guys. Being an RA was by far my favorite job to date and not only taught me a lot of important skills, but also taught me a lot about myself. I learned how to be assertive, diplomatic and professional, even in the midst of a crisis or when dealing with someone I might not have liked. I had to learn how to juggle my professional life as an RA with not just my academic life but with my social life as well. As you can imagine, I became extremely good at time management and prioritizing -- not only becoming a successful RA with great residents and a great community, but also managed to achieve a high GPA and still find time to have fun with my friends. That's not to say that I don't have my fair share of RA horror stories. Anyone who has worked in Residence Life has a plethora of stories to share: good, bad and hilarious, but all of those moments really made my college experience that much better. I got promoted to Senior Resident Advisor and was in charge of my own staff and residence area. I had to prove myself as a leader and motivate the others on my staff, and as challenging as it was at times, it was really rewarding to watch my staff grow and succeed. As an RA, I made so many friends and met so many people and it really was a great experience. I sometimes feel like having it on my resume doesn't really do it justice because I can't sum up my experience in a paragraph like this or even in a few lines on a resume, but I'm always up for sharing some stories!

This is my excited face after winning "Spiritual Program of the Year" for my "Stump the Priest" program. Jeopardy for priests!

Working Abroad:

I took this picture while walking to the tube station
at Kings Cross. I took the tube to work every day.

This past summer, I interned in London at a small magazine. This has also been one of my favorite experiences, but for obvious reasons (you can read my other blog if you want to gain a more extensive view of my experience). Not only did I have to figure out how to live in a foreign country on my own, but I also had to work a full-time job. I had to be completely self-sufficient, budgeting my money throughout the entire summer (my internship was unpaid) while still being able to do everything I wanted and learning how to get around in an unfamiliar city. I was completely new to the job too -- I didn't have any editorial experience prior to my internship, but I learned and learned quickly at that. I worked as part of a small team and was becoming familiar with the lingo as well as gaining more experience with interviewing, research, copy-editing and coming up with ideas for headlines. I was doing a lot of writing and loving it. On top of all of that, I was in an amazing city and meeting amazing new people. By the end of the summer, I felt like I was able to call the city "home," at least for a little while, and mean it. This job definitely taught me so much about the media industry, but living in the city taught me about being flexible, open-minded and the importance of taking risks (even when you're really afraid!)

Enjoying a sunny day on the River Thames... when I wasn't working, of course

Job Hunting: Mr. Right Turned to Mr. Rejection

If you read my earlier post comparing the job hunt to the search for "Mr. Right," then you'd know that job hunting is eerily similar to meeting a new guy/gal and going on a first date with them. Since my job hunt of about two months has yielded minimal results (very minimal), I have also come to realize that finding the right job is not without constant rejection, which again -- is eerily similar to the ups and downs of dating.

It seems as though I am constantly applying to jobs that seem to fit me and my qualifications: entry level, room for growth, hard-worker, attention to detail, excellent communication skills. However, despite the appropriate cover letter and well-groomed resume, I receive rejection emails littering my inbox claiming that while the company was "impressed with [my] qualifications, [they] have decided to pursue other candidates who appear to be a closer match for the position." I think back to the job description and requirements, and try to wonder what exactly it was that didn't qualify me as a "closer match," and unfortunately, can only think that, despite a considerable amount of experience and academic success, it still wasn't enough.

This, of course, makes me think of that horrible feeling of date rejection. You meet a guy/girl who seems to pretty much encompass what you're looking for in a significant other. The two of you flirt -- much akin to perhaps the back and forth of setting up an interview -- and then set up a date, which you assume will be successful since you meet their "qualifications" for the date. As you sit across the table from your date at dinner or next to them at a movie, inevitably, there is a period of  "sizing the other person up." You both try to see if this -- this date, this pairing -- is a good fit, just as you and the company you might be interviewing for are trying to determine not only if you have what they're looking for , but if you two could be in it for the long haul.

Then the date ends -- and this is where things get tricky. At the end of the interview, you get the handshake, the smile, the nod, all of the signs that you did a great job and that they like what they see. Similarly, at the end of the date, maybe there was a kiss and the promise that they'll call you soon to set up a second date. But somewhere, in the midst of the end-of-interview/date commotion, you have the great feeling that this is going to work out, while apparently, the person on the other end thinks otherwise.

You wait. And wait. And wait. In both instances (for a job and for another date), you're probably patiently waiting by the phone or incessantly checking your email. Days go by, and you're wondering what you did wrong and why they haven't called yet. You used all of your best date moves -- the coy smile, laughing at the appropriate times, staying interested and actively listening -- and yet, here you are, without a phone call, an email, or even a text message with a hint of hope.

Finally, you get something, but it's a rejection. Maybe it's in the form of an email or a brief phone call -- but whatever the medium, you didn't get the job and you didn't get the second date. While the company might say that they were impressed and you had excellent credentials, what it boils down to is not the very cliche "it's not you, it's me," but instead, it's reverse: it's not us, it's definitely you -- YOU don't have what we're looking for and YOU aren't what we need.

Then you head to the nearest grocery store, pick up a tub of Ben & Jerry's, preferably in their most decadent chocolate flavor, and sit in front of your TV watching reality shows that make everything look so easy while you're still jobless and now in need of a very long work-out.

I guess these past two months of job searching have made me a teensy bit cynical in the way that a bad break-up can. I suppose I've gone through so many different emotions--denial, anger, hope, then hopelessness again-- that I'm wondering when this bad break-up period is going to end and when I'm finally going to get a date, and a good date at that.

So many sad princesses without their Mr. Right.