I don't know what to do!

Looking back, college didn’t require a lot of serious decision making – even though I thought it did. For the most part, I made decisions about frivolous things such as: Should I wear pajamas to class today? Should I stick to rum and Coke or go for the Jager bombs? Should I go out tonight or should I spend time working on that eleven-page term paper? I know at times these choices sure stressed me out, but looking back, they really didn’t matter the way post-grad decisions seem to.

A lot of difficult decisions have come my way recently. There was me deciding where to live. Atlanta, Georgia or Southern California? It was not an easy choice to make, and many factors played into my choice to move to California. Then there was the decision of what to spend my time doing. Should I reapply to graduate schools for next year or pursue my other dream of becoming a lawyer? These questions required a lot of long-term thinking, and I’m glad that I had the time and the options to choose from. However, now that life is moving full speed ahead – more life-decisions are coming my way and many of them are giving me a day to decide, instead of a month or two.

So, you know how I was running my mouth last week about no jobs being available and how awful it is trying to find something? Well, that very same day, I received a call back from a marketing firm wanting to hire me for an entry level position. A real adult job. One with benefits and a respectable first year salary. One that requires business professional attire from 8:30am to 5:30pm. A marketing firm with connections to major Fortune 500 companies.

Sounds great, right? Well, they could only take me on as a full-time worker Monday-Friday, with a lot of events that I would be required to attend on the weekends. My initial reaction was whether or not I could balance my LSAT prep course and study time in the midst of having a blossoming career path. Could I do both? Maybe, but I’m not someone that does things half-assed, so a balancing act possibly could jeopardize my work experience and hurt my practice for the LSAT.

So, I had to make a tough decision – which is more important to me right now? A job that could have me making some serious coinage with benefits, while offering me an interesting perspective, or sticking to my long-term plan of becoming a lawyer? A lot of people I talked to told me to basically take the money and run with the full-time job and that I could always go back to law school a few years from now. Although I want to have lots of money one day and be successful, I didn’t feel like making a decision based upon money was the right way to figure this debacle out.

In the end, I decided to stick to my plan to attend law school next year. Although I think taking something so spur of the moment like that job offer could have been good, I feel more secure with my plan of prepping for the LSAT, taking the exam in October, and applying to law schools during the fall. My decision to reach for law school (and in the meantime apply for part-time jobs and internships) definitely makes me feel secure with my ambitions to work in the profession of law one day. I could have easily sold myself out and said “You know, the LSAT and the application process to law school sucks – this could be an easier way out,” but instead, I decided to challenge myself and look to the future.

Even though I have not been able to find a part-time job anywhere (since when do waitresses need three years experience to serve?), I have to admit – the call backs I have received (all from full-time positions, of course) and the interest from a major marketing company makes me feel pretty good about my resume and career prospects in the future. And luckily, I’m starting to hear back from some internship programs that will overlook me not being able to get class credit!

So, here’s looking to the future and holding out for what I truly want!
…Let’s just hope it all works out.

I mean, sure the 5-day old oatmeal tasted fresh enough, I’m not trying to sit here and bash eating leftovers. But it couldn’t make up for the fact that I had no co-workers, no real office, and no one believing that freelancing was a real job. So I did what any qualified writer does when she’s looking for a legitimate job: I got back on Craigslist, found the job of my dreams, and applied immediately. Unfortunately it turns out that my pre-puberty body prevents me from being an escort. Another dream crushed.

But I wouldn’t let that stop me. I found four more almost ideal jobs: babysitting an incontinent 80-year-old blind man, being a drug mule on the Mexican border, working for Coed Media Group, and having a sex change and appearing on Tyra 1-3 times to talk about the experience.

Only Coed Media called me back. For those of you who don’t spend your days Googling “but seriously, stop messing around, who really owns CollegeCandy?” you should know that Coed Media Group owns College Candy. That small fact will be a great ice-breaker and trivia question at dinner parties for years to come. I promise you that you will instantly be the life of every party if you pull that fact out. Of course, that’s assuming you only attend parties where guests are constantly asking each other about blog ownership.

Despite my slovenly appearance and my inability to answer normal interview questions like “what are your strengths and weaknesses and bra size,” they hired me. Which means two things: all my CollegeCandy blogging has paid off, and it is indeed possible to get a job in the media industry. However, I’ve had to spend the last week listening to people congratulate me on finally getting a job. As if I’ve been spending the last 6 months wandering around NYC and hitting on homeless men who openly pee on pay phones. (And come on people, everyone knows that’s a job best accomplished at night.)

But, even though this exciting new venture will bring a lot of changes to my life (trading in my slippers for shoes with laces and pulling out the ole alarm clock), the biggest change will be the reactions from those around me. Yes, instead of getting the confused eyebrow scrunch and “What exactly is it that you do?” I will now be getting the confused eyebrow scrunch and, “Wait, you’re working for a blog, but how do you make money?”

Looking forward to it.

As I grew older, I expanded my professional resume with retail positions, internships and jobs geared towards my career interests. I came out of college and now have a full-time job (and this super fun writing gig to keep me sane on the side) and am working towards getting the things I want for myself in life.

I consider myself – and many women just like me – to be a part of something new: the New Generation of 20-Something Women. No more relying on a man to determine financial status, stability or success; we are independent and have our own individual goals. Our own plans. Our fate in our hands.

Growing up, I learned that if you want something, you need to rely on yourself to get it and not someone else. I am taking that theory into account and notice that more females these days are too. Years ago, women were expected to find a man, get married, have children and keep the household. Rather than growing up and looking for our Mrs., 20-something women today are looking for a job, life experiences, travel and, most importantly, a life for themselves.

It’s not only the man now-a-days that needs a woman to sign a pre-nup when they get married. Meaning, more women are creating their own success as individuals, before solidifying their life with a man. These women are more realistic to the facts that 50% of marriages end in divorce and, if you want to enjoy your life, you have to rely on yourself first and foremost. Are you with me ladies?

More and more women are coming out of college and getting great jobs (albeit, men are doing the same, not trying to bash you boys, just pointing out our pattern), rather than heading straight to getting a great man. If you can have both, like my lucky self, then you’ve got two great ends of the spectrum. But my point here is that women can have both. And women are starting to realize it and put their own wants and needs first. And I quite like that.

Are you one of these success-driven females? What’s your driving force behind your goals?

[Photo courtesy of LogoKey]