Shifting worlds
My life is about to change. Hugely. Massively. Mount Everest-ly.
I just had an interview in southern Indiana. The managing editor of a community newspaper called me a while ago and scheduled a phone interview for the very next day. At the end of that interview, he invited me down to Indiana to interview in person, run a test story and take a style and grammar quiz. I did exactly that yesterday after driving down Thursday and crashing in a hotel paid for by the paper. Not 30 minutes back onto the road for the seven hour drive home, my cell phone rang.
They offered me the job.
I will soon be the newest staff writer for the six-day daily newspaper in southern Indiana. I’ll be covering the county beat, but also acting as a general assignment reporter. And they need me as soon as possible.
Commence the freaking out.
I have no idea how to do this. This is such an incredibly huge shift in my life. I’ve never rented an apartment, much less one seven hours away in another state. And I have to move my entire life in a matter of a few weeks. Though I’ve done nothing but search for a real job since graduating, I’ve had no time to plan. I feel like my life suddenly turned into a giant game of KerPlunk. I shifted one too many sticks and the marbles are all crashing down at once. I’m cycling between thrilled and happy, tense and overwhelmed on a ridiculous, gut-wrenching ride. By the way, I hate roller-coasters.
Thank God for my steady-as-a-rock-thinks-of-everything mom. She’s simultaneously (and regularly) calming me down and making lists. We’re taking inventory and planning to bring a load of furniture, kitchen stuff and everything else I don’t need here down to Indiana to stash in a storage locker until I have an apartment. We’re heading back down next weekend to do some serious apartment hunting, hopefully getting me approved and signing on the dotted line while we’re there.
My dad and I were crunching numbers this morning. I won’t be making a whole lot of money, but I’ll be able to live comfortably. It’ll be even better when my fiance joins me and adds his income to the pot, relieving me of half the rent, utilities and food. But he won’t be moving in with me until he can find a job in the same area. I’m hoping and praying that it won’t take long as I want him with me as soon as it’s possible. The first little while will be hard enough living entirely by myself in a completely unfamiliar area with no local friends and being baptized by fire in a new job.
So I’m excited but terrified, thrilled but thinking, “Oh my God what have I done?!” Does everyone in my situation feel this way?
Back in the saddle again
My internship is pretty much over. This unfortunately means that I have to hit the ground running in the job market. And as we all know, it’s a wreck of a market, especially in Michigan where I live. Michigan’s unemployment rate was at 14 percent last I heard. 14 percent! It’s the highest in the nation and is a record, I believe, for the state.
I don’t want to move too far away from home but I’m left without much of a choice. This economy is just wreaking havoc on my ability to find a career. I’m sure everyone out there can say the same thing to one extent or another. The major majority of my family is here in Michigan. I love my family. I don’t want to have to travel several hours just to come home but it’s looking like there’s no other way.
Tyler is also in the same boat. He has something good going now with Chrysler, but it’s only temporary. There’s a tiny chance they could hire him on permanently, but it certainly can’t be counted on. And as both of our careers are up in the air, we can’t plan for anything. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I hate not being able to have a plan. I absolutely despise the fact that our plans for getting married and finally living a life tied together are almost entirely dependant on the job market. One word – UNSTABLE. I hate it.
But I’m spending the day researching jobs and sending in applications. It’s nearly all I can do at this point and time. I hope and pray every day and night that something will turn aroud for us. Soon.
Holy exciting news!
I got a phone call this morning from the executive editor of The Flint Journal. He was calling to schedule an interview with me for a full-time reporter position. This is my first professional interview and I’m excited at the possibility of kicking off my career. I could end up working for the Journal, the Bay City Times or the Saginaw News. The interview itself is in Saginaw, which is about two hours or so away but I’m gladly driving to take my shot.
I’m going to do some studying and research tomorrow to help me feel more confident and relaxed as well as informed. It may also give me a very tiny edge over other possible candidates. In this day and age, I’m battling people with far more experience as the industry has been cutting back so much. I just have to trust in my own capabilities and go all in, win or lose. I think I’m a strong contender for this position, but if someone else proves stronger then I will have gained some valuable interviewing experience and at least know that they were interested and may not be totally out of the running for future positions.
I was so thrilled to be considered for the job. Even though it is entry level and doesn’t pay much, I completely expected that. I still get overtime, which I would imagine reporters are at least occasionally if not frequently getting, along with good benefits and a 401K matching program. They also provide reimbursement for expenses, as usual, and also any technology that may have to come my way in order to do the job. It sounds like a great deal overall and I still wouldn’t be too far from home.
My sister and I went shopping after the call came in. I just discovered that the suit I’ve had for a couple of years no longer fit the bill – as in is now too tight across the chest and back. Does anyone else loathe the process of trying to find clothes that fit well and don’t run up the credit card balance? Sometimes I swear it’s nearly impossible. I ended up finding something that looked good and wasn’t too incredibly expensive, much to my relief. For some reason I just never thought about trying on my old suit before that phone call. Silly me.
Can you tell I’m excited?
Growing pains
I’ve been working on my senior thesis project over the last few days which involves researching ways to increase newspaper readership in the age of electronic media. Then it hit me today while writing about the introduction of the World Wide Web.
I’m GRADUATING.
In a little over a month I’m going to be set free upon the world and left to my own devices. I won’t lie – that thought honestly scares me.
When did the world get so big? That kid song lied. This so totally isn’t a small world. It’s huge and open and intimidating. My place has always been at home with my family and friends or at school studying. And now I have to step out of that world and into a career. But before I’m able to start that career, I have to tread that shaky bridge between the small world I’ve known my whole life and the next world that I’ve never been introduced to. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m only 22 for crying out loud.
But I know my journalism field. I know how to work within it quite effectively. I know that I really do know my stuff. I’m graduating with high honors for heaven’s sake. So why wouldn’t I be able to fit into the workforce? There’s really no reason why I shouldn’t. It’s just a lot unfamiliar territory and anyone could be scared of that, right?
The current economy is also creating chaos with my ability to cope with the upcoming freedom. Journalism is already one of the lowest paying fields right out of the starting gates. And because of electronic media, employers are cutting back right and left. Will I be able to get a job? If so, will I be able to keep that job? Am I going to be able to get married, get a dog and eventually have kids? What the hell am I going to do if I can’t? There’s all these unanswered questions circling around my brain and no one seems to be able to provide even half-assed answers.
I miss the days when it was simpler. I never realized how good I had it coming home from only a half day of kindergarten to a peanut butter and jelly lunch waiting for me made with love from mom. We would watch Little House on the Prairie together before my sisters got home and I’d have mom all to myself. I didn’t have to worry about money or having a roof over my head and clothes on my back. I didn’t have to worry about what’s for dinner or when I had to go to work. All I concerned myself with was being sure to ask everyone in my morning class if they would be my friend and making sure that the afternoon student who sat at my desk didn’t touch my stuff.
I don’t want to move out of Michigan and away from my family, but that’s a very real possibility. My parents have been my rock through everything and it’s downright petrifying to think that I might not have them easily accessible face-to-face. They were there when I got my first B+ and calmed me down when I was shocked and upset. They were there when I was being threatened by a crazy ex-boyfriend in the seventh grade. They were there for all the miseries and frustrations of high school and my first job. They got me to college and let me abuse their washing machine and raid the pantry at home. And my mom still turned on my heated mattress pad this winter when she knew I was coming home late from work to a freezing-cold house.
I guess the whole idea and everything that goes into it is overwhelming. Let’s face it – I’m overwhelmed by reality.
