on how it feels to be HIRED (!!)

Being hired sort of feels like:

1. Asking for a pony for Christmas your entire life and then getting one

2. Discovering that you can actually buy Girl Scout Cookies all year long (!!!)

3. Hitting a home-run while every single person you know is watching

4. Skipping school to go to Disneyland

5. Getting your acceptance letter to Hogwarts

YOU GUYS. I got a job.
It's been quiet around here for the last few weeks because I've been busy trying to wrap my brain around the fact that this actually happened. (I'm still waiting for someone to jump out and yell APRIL FOOLS! because this really does feel too good to be true.) I haven't done the best job of explaining what exactly I've been doing here these past few months, so let me explain How I Managed To Move To New York Without A Job, And Then Get A Job (Three Months Later).

While I didn't have much in the way of a plan, the one thing I did know when I moved to New York was that I wanted to start a career somewhere in the land of Marketing + Event Production. …..aaaand that's pretty much the only thing I knew. See, the tricky thing about moving to a city where you don't know anyone is, you don't know anyone. So where do you start? Who do you talk to? What do you do? I remember being on the plane from Oregon to New York, having visions of myself roaming through the city like a door-to-door salesman, knocking on every door and asking for work.

Thanks to my friends and family, I didn't have to knock on doors.
The #1 reason I've had any success here is because I've had lots of people looking out for me. People connecting me with anyone they know in the city (old college buddies, business partners, friends-of-a-friend). People keeping an eye out for any potential job opportunities. People going out of their way to introduce me to someone-who-might-know-someone-in-the-industry. I'm telling you, I have never felt more grateful for my family and friends than I have these past three months.

One of these introductions led to the best internship I've ever had (enter, reason #2).
If there's one piece of advice I could give to anyone who's looking for a job or wondering how to kickstart The Career You've Always Wanted, let this be it: Never underestimate the power of The Unpaid Internship. While I might not have a paycheck to show for it, I spent the last 3 months working alongside some of the most creative and passionate people I've ever met. I got to see parts of the city that I never would have had access to otherwise - rooftops, private balconies, photo shoots, grand openings, launch parties, the 44th floor, the behind-the-scenes. The experience I gained and the people I met through my internship are, without a doubt, the reason I got my job.

And best of all? It's a job that I really want.

Can I get a HALLELUJAH?!?!!