Life After Graduation
Hello friends!
It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I know, I say that every time. Since my last post was from Summer 2017, I figured the blog was way overdue for an update. It’s only appropriate, since I just graduated from Florida State in December. We have a lot to catch up on.
The last time I posted, I was living in New Jersey and completing my second Summer internship (if you want to read about my first internship, you can find that post here). A fellow intern and I made a day trip to New York City- thus, yielding the only post-able content from that summer. This internship was with the buying department at Burlington Stores corporate headquarters in Burlington, NJ. My days consisted of analyzing sales reports, taking weekly market trips to NYC to meet with vendors, and driving around in circles on New Jersey roads comprised of jug-handles instead of left-turn lanes. Despite how dizzy I was, I learned a lot that summer.
That August, I returned to FSU for my senior year, and that’s when I decided to pick up a Business minor- mostly so I could push back my graduation date from May to December. I’m so glad I did.
The following summer (this past year), I was fortunate enough to be selected for another buying internship. This time, with URBN at their corporate offices in the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. I didn’t think anything could top my summer in New York, but Philly stole my heart and I’m dying to go back. I interned with the buying team at Terrain, the company’s outdoor living brand and member of Anthropologie Group. If you’ve never heard of it, do yourself a favor and put visiting a Terrain store on your bucket list because they are truly like no other. I’ll probably put together a summer recap as my next post (even though its been 5 months…better late than never) because the city and the internship were too incredible not to have their own spotlight. Be on the lookout for that.
So, I returned to FSU again for my final semester. I spent my last months getting involved, staying active within my sorority and serving as the Vice President of the Collegiate Merchandising Association. In December I finally (reluctantly) graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in Retail, Merchandising & Product Development. I packed up my life, said my goodbyes to the place I will always consider home, and moved back to my hometown just before the holidays.
To answer the question you’re just dying to ask, no, I don’t have a job yet. It turns out that even with 3 corporate internships, 6 years of store level retail experience, management experience, leadership roles within student organizations, and a shiny 3.5 GPA, getting a job is still really hard. Even when you edit your resume a thousand times, write cover letters until your eyes bleed from looking at a computer screen for too long, send follow-up email after follow-up email, check all of your boxes, dot your I’s, cross your T’s, read and re-read and re-read everything before you submit it…getting a job is still really hard. You can do everything right and still not hear anything for weeks, if at all. It can be frustrating- I’m sure most of you reading this have been there, or you will be soon.
But, I like to think that the universe works in mysterious ways and the right thing will come to me at the right time, and in the end I’ll end up exactly where I need to be. If you’re reading this and you’re feeling stuck in the same situation, I’m here to tell you that the right thing will come to you too. Trust.
If you’re still reading, thank you! I appreciate your support. Here’s to a new year, a new chapter, and (maybe) new blog posts.
xoxo -G
