I have decided to document my journey to success… well attempted success lol. After attending San Jose State University for 4.5 years I Definetely feel different. I am done with school, I have earned two degrees and I am ready for the real world. I am not going to lie… I am one of those people who thought “I have a degree I’m definitely going to get a job.” This is a wrong mentality to have. I have realized that having a Bachelor’s degree is so common now that getting to the top only happens with dedication and hard work.
Nothing will be handed to you… ever.
A smart friend of mine graduated with a Bachelor’s and went on to get his Masters. After completing both these degrees he went on to work for a company we are all familiar with… Google. For these reasons I decided to seek him for guidance. As a junior in college you start realizing that you are almost done and you need to figure out what’s next. I will never forget what he told me. It stuck with me and definitely affected my next moves as far as education and my career. This man told me “Honestly I have a Bachelor’s and a masters, but I wish I would have been more productive in my undergraduate years. If you take advantage of internships and volunteer opportunities throughout your undergrad you won’t even need a masters. These days it is all about networking and making yourself stand out.” This caught me off guard! I didn’t think that any of those factors (internships and volunteering) were relevant. I thought the degree would be enough. I was thinking “Once I have my masters no one can stop me.” My friend went on to further his point; “I hire people at Google and I definitely would go with the candidate who has their bachelor’s and alot of internships and work on their resume as opposed to someone who has a Masters but no real world experience or proof that they can balance.”
This explanation and reasoning made a lot of since to me. Enough to make me have two jobs my last semester, an internship and a full load of courses.
Although I was stressed and experienced many sleepless nights I do not regret it. My friend got me out of that mentality that everything would be handed to me and I wouldn’t have to go above and beyond. After that conversation, I stepped my game up and I must say my resume is poppin for someone who is only 23. Now it is February and I have been a college graduate for two months. I am working full time and also trying to get some side gigs (baby sitting or blogging for a company) in order to make some extra money. Meanwhile, I continue to think of ways to transition out of the random jobs and into my dream job…. a radio producer at 102.9 KBLX. Or hell an employee for any radio station.
Radio is my passion and I am strategizing what I can do to get where I want to be. Post college life is not easy, because it’s an awkward phase before starting our careers. But I am determined to reach my goal. I will document the process and keep everyone updated!
Queen Media Collective 