Two years ago today, I began a journey to make my life
better. I enrolled in the writing program at Savannah College of Art andDesign. Although I have a BA in English, I chose to enroll as an undergraduate.
The thought of trying to get in as a graduate student overwhelmed me. I had to
have a portfolio to submit and I assumed they wouldn’t want me and everyone
would be better than me.
After a few weeks of undergrad classes, I realized I made the
wrong choice. I quickly submitted my application for the graduate program and I
got in with no problems. The feeling that everyone in the program is a better
writer than me or that they get published more than me or that I’m too old to
start a new career is a lingering insecurity that will probably always haunt
me. Perhaps it is the reason I continue to work as I hard as I do.
Today, I began the final leg of that journey as my final
quarter at SCAD began this morning. I honestly don’t know have I managed to
juggle my life and my studies, but I have done it and I am completely
exhausted. I am excited to see the nearing end of homework, projects, and
research papers, but I’m also worried.
I thought a master’s degree would ensure my job security and
I would go to a few job fairs and submit a few applications and then bam! I
would get hired and start paying my school loans off and begin saving for my
future.
After my divorce, I was left with no health insurance, no
retirement, and no savings. That has not changed and my job prospects are not
looking so hot right now.
Since February, I applied for over 20 jobs and I have not
received one interview. I’m not panicking yet, but my stomach gets a tad queasy
when I look at my bank statement and wonder how I will manage with no job andno school loans to fill in the blanks.
But when I started graduate school, I promised myself 2
things:
1.
I will not accept work from a company that I do
not respect
2.
I will look for work outside of Savannah before
I will take a dead end job just to pay the bills.
I don’t know what is going to happen in these next 10 weeks of my final
days as a student. But I just cannot allow myself to believe that I have done
all of this work for nothing. I know there is a job out there for me that will
give me what I need. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong place
