#bloomingonions

I majored in English with a focus on creative writing. Although I didn’t necessarily know exactly what I would do with it at the time, I knew I loved reading and writing, and getting a chance to explore that even further was really appealing to me. In college I took a lot of classes studying 20th century poetry and American literature. I also took many workshops in poetry and short story writing, and I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. But, alas, as time went on and graduation kept getting closer, there were a TON of people (mostly my family) asking me what I planned on doing with my English degree. I got the usual suggestions (teaching came up a lot) from a few people, but I knew in my heart that writing and editing was what I wanted to do. For whatever reason, towards the end of college I became interested in journalism (like the prospects were any better there…) and started freelancing for a local alt-weekly, albeit on a very smallpay-by-the-story income. 

And then I graduated. And then I needed a job. 

Since I was 15, I’d been working in restaurants as a means to support myself. I personally think cooking and serving are great ways for writers to support themselves while they pursue their true passions. And it’s what I did through college and post-college, while searching desperately for the right job for me. As time went on, I became more and more desperate, hoping that anybody would hire me to write about anything. And it got pretty bad. I went a full 2 and a half years of job hunting before finally landing a solid, full-time writing job. There were many, many, MANY times when I questioned myself, wondered if I’d made the right decisions, and almost plain gave up. I knew I didn’t want to cook for the rest of my life, but job hunting can be pretty soul-crushing at times, especially now when the job market is rough for everyone and I was an English major who wanted to write for print and online publications. 

BUT, HAVE NO FEAR FELLOW ENGLISH HEADS!!! After searching endlessly for over 2 years and getting tired of explaining my situation to different family members, I finally found a job copywriting and editing for a great company where I live. It may not be the most glamorous of gigs, and I might not be writing for Rolling Stone or Pitchfork like I dreamed of doing way back when, but I can honestly say that I love what I do. I get to write and edit great content every single day, and about 98% of it is original copy I come up with. Plus, I’m still able to freelance in my spare time, so all in all, it worked out pretty good. I now know without a doubt in my mind that every choice I made in high school and college concerning my future was exactly the right choice I needed to make in order to get where I am today.