Beginning of the End

Two and a half weeks and I will be done with my undergrad degrees...yep, plural. A surprise email from my humanities advisor said that with this final summer class, I have qualified for a second degree instead of a second major. While it might not make a large difference, it will at least look good on a resume.

As I begin to say goodbye to the student phase of my life, I relish in the chance to begin a new phase, something I’ve never done before. While I will never quit learning, I am quickly approaching the end of my traditional academic learning, at least for a couple years. Kindergarten through a bachelor’s degree, 17 years of schooling and now I am officially a full-time employee. Well, really not until July 5^th but close enough. By then I will have finished my undergraduate degree in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism, a second degree Humanities and a Spanish minor.

Through my internship at the local paper in Pullman, I realized my planned career path of a newspaper journalist wasn’t in fact my passion. It was definitely an adventure, a learning experience but the fast-paced, daily assignments didn’t allow me to really explore the subjects very well. So now my interest is feature writing, more magazine-like articles where I can delve into detail and have a bit more creative freedom in writing.

Before I embark on that journey, I’m trying my hand at another aspect of the communications world: media relations, new media and video editing. I don’t have much academic training in these areas as I do have in print journalism but I’ve had exposure and am eager and excited to try my hand. Of course, if I decide to move on from this new job at some stage, these skills are definitely transferable.

This new opportunity excites me and I have no doubt I will learn and grow lots and be challenged. Not only will I grow professionally but also personally and spiritually as it is a job within kids ministry at church. My leadership skills will be developed and I hope to help positively impact the lives of elementary school students.

For now, I must finish up this annoying two and a half weeks of class but I have some interesting preparatory reading for my new job that should keep me learning and on my toes for now.