With all that I’ve experienced, some great and some difficult, it seems like a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned and how I will use that new knowledge in the year to come. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
- It’s never too late. I finished my college education 27 years after I started it. I could regret all the years wasted in between or I could have said “why bother at this point?” But in the end, it’s true: I was going to be this old with or without the degree.
- It pays to network. I spent the last year keeping in touch with people and participating in activities that I didn’t really have time for, but in the end I scored an internship at a prestigious local magazine, received feedback that is making a better editor and writer and made several fulfilling and lasting relationships.
- If you really want something, think out of the box. Last spring, I decided I wanted to work for a magazine that doesn’t have a lot of openings: they have regular contributing writers and the editors have been working there for years. Emailing my resume to editor@experiencelifemag.com wasn’t going to cut it. So I introduced myself to the editor in chief at a conference I went to specifically to meet her. I showed up at the offices and presented the managing editor with a crudely created mini-portfolio. I requested interviews to discuss their creative and editorial processes. And when they finally offered me an internship, even though I had to admit that I didn’t know a lot about social media, I jumped at the chance. And then once I had the internship, I went beyond the set responsibilities to show them how I could be of value. And it worked.
- You can go without sleep for a really long time, but eventually you start hallucinating. I think that one’s pretty self explanatory.
