The NPR NextGenRadio program was a lot of things to me, but if I had to narrow down which one I thought was most important it would be the sense of fulfillment.
School can get you ready for the career that you want to go into, but it can’t prepare you for how it feels when you have graduated. Suddenly this thing I have been doing for the better part of two decades was over. No more internships and no more classes. There wasn’t a smooth transition. The next day came and I just wasn’t a student anymore. That constant feeling of accomplishment was gone, and with it my access to programs like Microsoft Office and the Adobe Creative Cloud. I didn’t get to do the work I liked anymore, not until I found a job.
The opportunity to not only do this kind of work again, but do it for the company I dream of working at one day reminded me why I love this field so much. I came in already a graduate, but I still learned so much. My story had difficulties, but rather than letting those ruin my attitude, I looked at it from a different perspective. Being taught what to do when everything goes right is helpful, but knowing what to do when everything goes wrong? That is invaluable. Thank you for reminding me why this is the career that I chose.