Two weeks ago I had no idea what I was going to do with my professional career.
Today, I am the new Communications Specialist at the Fort Worth Library. I have always loved the library, but I never thought I would be working there.
I interviewed for this position last week, and at the end of the interview, they offered me the job. That kind of opportunity is pretty hard to pass up, so I just went for it. Being a communications professional is interesting because you never know where you’re going to end up.
The library where I work is more than 100 years old and is located right in the center of downtown Fort Worth. It is a beautiful old building with Grecian columns and quotes from great authors written on the walls. My office is located in the basement of the building, and I have a sizable cubicle that I can’t wait to decorate. Decorating the cubicle is definitely high on my priority list, but the first thing I need to do is start looking for an apartment in Fort Worth because until I find one I have to drive an hour to work and back each day. The commute is not ideal, but I plan on checking out some books on tape so I can get some reading in every day (just one of the many perks of working at a library).
I’m still adjusting to working 40 hours a week, but I think after week two I’ll get into the swing of things.
Working an 8-5 is so different than going to school.
When I was in school, I probably worked just as many hours (maybe more) going to school, doing homework, interning, and working part-time, but the hours were not consecutive. During college, I was up at all hours of the night working and socializing, but since I started this job, I have been going to sleep at 8:30 p.m.! I haven’t gone to sleep that early since I was in third grade. I definitely appreciate the weekend more now than I ever did in college.
The conventional hours of this job are not very thrilling, but being in charge of my own projects is. I remember when I was an intern I always felt like I never got to take charge of projects because there was always a supervisor monitoring my work. I only got to do bits and pieces of projects, and I never felt satisfied with the end result because the work didn’t feel like my own.
Now that I’m working as a communications specialist, I have full creative control over my work.
I get to collaborate with people, and the creative team I work with is great! I feel really lucky that I am able to use my public relations and writing skills in this position because many of my peers are working in jobs unrelated to their majors.
I don’t know if this job is what I want to do for the rest of my life, but for the next six months, I think I will be very happy working there. I’m curious to see where I end up in the next five years, and I’m anxious to know what my path will be. I never saw myself working in Fort Worth, Texas (just to give you some background, this city’s nickname is “Cow Town” and people really do wear cowboy boots and hats on a daily basis), but I think I’m going to like it. I can’t wait to find out what my next step will be and I’m already on the lookout for it. Maybe that it will be a new apartment? Or a new car with better gas mileage? Or maybe I’ll get a new job closer to home down the line? Whatever that step may be, I’ll be ready to take it.
Photo uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons
