Life After College—Why You Shouldn't Settle

It has been exactly eight months and 15 days since I've graduated college. It’s safe to say that the next chapter of my life has started and I’m on my way to seeing how the rest of the book will be written. Getting here wasn't easy though, but it took some believing in myself and never settling for less than what I know I deserve.

When you’re in college, everything just kind of passes by you and you’re along for the ride. Sure, you have to get good grades and have (or at least try to have) good social standings—but is there really anything else to be concerned about? Life is about what brand of vodka you’re going to be drinking that weekend or gaining the courage to talk to that cute guy in your statistics class.

Then, you graduate and your entire life turns upside down. You’re expected to find a job and enter the real world. You’re not just a student anymore, you’re a young professional.

Two weeks before graduating, I thought I was set. I had come home during the weekend to interview for a position at a marketing/fundraising company in NYC. About 5 days after my interview, I got a call (on Cinco de Mayo, en route to our favorite Spanish restaurant to drink margaritas) saying I got the job. I was absolutely ecstatic. Everything is falling into place, I thought—Sayonara to all who doubted me, I got a real job!

Fast forward two weeks and I come to work on the first day to find out that it was actually a door-to-door sales job. No way, I thought, I absolutely did not go to college for four years to walk around every day knocking on peoples’ doors begging for their money. I didn't want to sound like that stuck-up girl who thinks I deserve a place in Corporate America just one day after graduating college, but I absolutely was not going to settle for something less than what I know I can get.

So, I quit.

The next few months were spent job hunting-- a long, grueling process most people must face some time or another in their life. It seemed as though I was getting offers from all the jobs I didn't want and rejections from all the positions I actually had a passion for. I came close to accepting a sales position at a gym, when my friend reached out to me with an open receptionist position at the pediatrician’s office she worked at.

I took it right away.

Of course, it wasn't something in my career path or even close to the field I wanted experience in, but at this point I really just needed one thing—money.  Life is a little rough when you have no source of income. I enjoyed working there—the people were great and my boss loved me. But, I knew I wasn't going to give up on finding something better. About five months into working, my boyfriend and I went on vacation to Punta Cana. I had no idea everything would change from the moment I got back.

When our plane landed, I noticed two new voice mails pop up on my phone that I hadn't received when we were on the island. They ended up both being from a recruiter at a top publishing company I had applied to a month earlier, asking me to come in for an interview.

I called him back, doubting that he would even still want me to come in considering my tardiness with returning his calls. Much to my dismay, we scheduled an interview for the next day! I spent the entire night prepping, thinking that this was my opportunity, remaining positive despite all of my past rejections. It could actually be real this time, I thought.

Two days later, I got the job.

As of today, I have been working for the past month as a Marketing Assistant in one of the top publishing companies. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I am so absolutely grateful for. It took some months of digging, but I finally found the job that was right for me.

I may have been just a recent college graduate with almost no credible work experience, but they saw something in me they didn't see in anyone else. And that is why you never settle for less. Because if you can see your full potential, then the whole world should be able to see it too.

xoxo Erica