Sometimes, staring at the blank canvas of a new post window is more daunting than anything. The challenges in real life certainly don’t compare to having all kinds of things to write about and being unsure of how to begin. I’ve always been this way, but once I get on a roll, it’s hard to stop me.
I’ve been really busy lately, but staying focused. If life were a ship, that giant wheel just turned and we’re changing course… even if our destination stays the same. As long as we’re making waves, right?
Free time apparently makes it harder to blog. So much to say and no motivation to write. It’s strange.
Still waiting to hear back on some job offers, but nothing seems certain right now. California is mulling the end of welfare in their state. Strange times ahead — for all of us. Let’s be honest, I’m still excited.
Stay tuned for some potentially big news.
“When you’re out of hope, when you’re out of ammunition, the only thing left to do is charge forward.” – Richard Seely
Sorry I’m late. This post is a bit of a long time coming, and it may or may not have been an unfinished draft in my WordPress folder, but we’ll just ignore that. Earlier this year, I and some of my fellow Spartans had the chance to be part of something really special, possibly something as special as anything I’ve been a part of in my time at Michigan State University.
My beloved alma mater, with the help of Loretta Sklar and Kohl’s Department Stores, took a break from our regularly scheduled academic programming to present our classes (and especially our graduating — now graduated — seniors) with something they called “Inspiration Day.” As the realization sets in that the economy isn’t snapping back into place anytime soon, it’s important not to get discouraged, but to resolve to be better; not simply survive, but thrive in this troubled time. Historically, young people have been especially good at that, whether it was our grandparents in World War II or the spirit of youth backing the civil rights movement.
Now it’s on us. Are a bunch of 20-something college grads going to be the ones to save the world from a global financial meltdown? That remains to be seen, but don’t ever tell us we can’t. I’ve heard from a lot of older people that exact attitude — and I can’t put my finger on why. Aren’t older people supposed to be wiser? Where did all of these chicken littles come from? Shouldn’t they know, as well as anyone, that these bumps in the road are going to happen? Speedbumps aren’t made to stop you — they’re made to get you to slow down, and when you slow down, it’s easier to figure out where you’re going.
So why be afraid? That was the message of Inspiration Day. 10% unemployment is another way of saying 90% employment — which doesn’t sound that bad to me. It’s a world where those who put forth their best effort stil succeed. The cream will always rise to the top. It’s simply unfortunate that there are those out there who want to convince us otherwise. With the media running fear down our throat at every corner, whether it’s in the form of the economy, Y2K, SARS, or the disease formerly known as “Swine Flu”, my advice to my readers is this: just turn the TV off. Does your browser open to the CNN homepage? Change it to http://www.happynews.com. You won’t regret it.
Most of all, young people, don’t give up, don’t give in. Are things different than they used to be? Absolutely. Will we have to make some changes in our lives? Absolutely. But neither of those are bad things! Embrace change! Be excited about having something you can tell your grandkids about someday! And use the amazing technologies that we have in our hands that no one else in history had ever even dreamed of using the way we can. I mean, they even have a service now that will tell you the best time to walk out of a movie theater if you really have to pee. That’s power — and proof that we can do so much more.
We’re here because the world needs problem solvers. The world needs thinkers, innovators, achievers, belivers; my blog needs readers. Let the rest of them duck and cover if they really think the sky is falling; more world for the rest of us — especially my fellow Spartans.
Now go out there and conquer. Haroo, Haroo, Haroo!
Dear science, I recently read that ancient Americans as early as 2500 years ago had the dental technology to plant diamonds, rubies, and other precious gems into the teeth of their warriors.
While anyone can now purchase a full set of platinum Grillz on a NYC streetcorner, it seems a couple areas of dental technology still lag behind the advances we’ve made in mouth jewelry.
Dear science, why? Why have wisdom teeth, braces, and a tonsillectomy at the age of 22 been three of the four horseman of my physical apocalypse? Day 5 is coming in the morning and I’m moving back to chicken broth. Not food yet. Broth. In three weeks I might be able to try softened pears, if I’m lucky. Ironic that I’ve made — and hope to make — a living out of my ability to talk to people, yet the biggest block to that happens to be my own mouth. The upside, when this is all over, is that health-wise I should be pretty smooth sailing again, at least until my jaw just decides to fall off or something.
All I know is that Nestle Quik commercial with the screaming kid in his bedroom and all the chocolate milk he wants set me up with unreasonable expectations for this surgery — and that kid and his cartoon rabbit friend are deceitful bastards.
On a lighter note, I’ve regained my love for Twitter after a couple surprising conversations with some important people. Stagnating in your room all day will do that for you, but it really reminds me how powerful, unique, and incredible of a tool social networking can be. More on that later… my broth is getting cold.
And the job search is in full swing. Getting my tonsils out was a great way to get some downtime and resist the urge to go out and enjoy the sunshine. Happy Summer, Michigan.
So what works for finding work?
- TalentZoo (http://www.talentzoo.com) is a great resource for you aspiring career types and recent grads; possibly the best I’ve seen yet. They do a metacrawl of all the other careers sites (even the Ladders), and pull out positngs about creative/media/web/pr jobs and internships. Tons to choose from, and while you’re going to need some experience for a lot of the positions, it certainly doesn’t look or feel like we’re in a recession. I applied last night and already got two responses.
- MySpartanCareer (http://www.myspartancareer.com) is a site every Spartan should know about. Jobs and internships in EL, Lansing, and nationwide. It replaced the old SpartanTRAK system, but I don’t know if it’s connected to MonsterTRAK anymore or not. For the rest of you, there are always job postings on Craigslist.
Personally, I think the best way to go about getting the job you want is to find individual companies/agencies/firms you like or know about and just contacting them directly. Sometimes though, it’s just good to get a feel for who’s out there and who’s hiring.
What do you think?
When it’s your last week in college, textbooks are a little more interesting, party noise is a little less irritating, and campus is a little more beautiful each day.
I miss this place already.
I think if I ever own a ship, the only thing in my cargo hold is going to be Somali pirates. Then, if Somali pirates try to hijack my ship, MY Somali pirates hijack it right back.
First blog post in a while, I know.
Await my coming on the sixth day, when I shall return as MUMM-RA, THE EVER-LIVING.
So my parents went through their joyous, annual, pre-vacation ritual of preparing the “in case of gruesome, unexpected death” letter. It will sit creepily on the kitchen counter while we’re away. My instructions are a lot simpler.
Aloha!
This post is more of a preview for my next one — it’s all about rebranding myself, from color schemes to logos and everything. How you package yourself could make the difference between “great job candidate” and “new employee.”
People might be coming here from the link on my Twitter page, so, hello Twitterverse!
