My December to Remember

Last December was something of a bell wether month for me. It was when I made two pretty major life decisions. 1) I was going to get a new job; and 2) I was going to go back to school. 


And the best thing is, I accomplished them both in less than three months, and I got everything I wanted out of both. Yeah, I'm good that way.


These two major events are definitely intertwined because one would have probably never happened without the other. I was loving my previous job at the nonprofit until I got 100% blindsided by some unbelievable acts of bullshit. It instantly changed my entire perception of my job and some of the people I worked with whom I thought I could trust and rely on. When the shock wore off and the anger/hurt/whatever began to subside, I knew I had to get out there. Luckily, it was in this moment of introspection that I had a thought. 


"I'm 35, and in 10 years when I'm 45 do I still expect to be a print designer, full well knowing that print is not exactly a booming industry? If not, do I want to be 45 and trying to find a new career without having to wash cars or fashion up a latte at some hipster coffeehouse? Why not make figure this out now?"


It was during this reflection period that Kelly and I talked about maybe applying to this graduate program at AU for digital media skills. We'd both had conversations in the past year that were almost 100% relating to the question I posed to myself above (which is important because there is no way the former employer gets credit for my life change besides shining a bright spotlight on my need to get out of there). We had talked before about the Corcoran or some other local program that we might be able to do together just because it's always better to got through something with someone you know than going it alone (and we'd push each other to do well instead of just hanging around and simply seeing it through).


We both applied to the program and got in, and I am really excited about what it could mean. It's all about taking the skills I already know from print design and learning to translate it to the internet and other multimedia products. iPad apps, rich media presentations, all that jazz. I'm not going to retire some rich badass who created the next Angry Birds because of this program, but then again ask me in a year when it's over and I may have a different opinion on that.


But school was only one part of the problem, and it was secondary to the employment factor. I applied to jobs I had no training for and ones I would have excelled in easily but would not have necessarily been challenged in. I went on a couple interviews and I liked some and other didn't like me and that's how it goes. I then heard about the opening at the Washingtonian, but not for the print side … but the website.


Sweet! Not only am I spending a year learning digital media skills, but I can parlay that into an actual day-to-day job while I learn? After a few weeks of interviews and such, I got the call on a Friday during March Madness (naturally, it's only the greatest time of the year for a UK fan, so why not add onto the goodness?) and I got the job.


So that moment in December led to a convergence of both a new career and new course of direction in my ever-growing skillet. I couldn't be happier and it's nice to know my biggest worries now are learning how the internet works (OK, so that's kinda worrisome), and avoiding gaining the infamous 15 pounds that all new Washingtonian employees gain because of all the free food constantly showing up (#firstworldproblem). 

It's a new day, people. But I'll always remember that December (but not in that gawd-awful song kind of way).