The Long Version:
After working as a professional for five years, I made the decision to return to school to pursue a graduate degree. I think I’m a pretty interesting – though challenging – segment. For example, I’m 30 but I’m not married and don’t have children. I consider myself financially secure and my financial future looks bright, but I don’t have a paycheck right now. And I’m very active and have diverse interests and hobbies, but I rarely have enough free time to indulge. One of my interests in marketing is actually reaching consumers like myself – consumers who I feel are currently a large missed population.
As far as thinking and feeling goes, I sometimes worry that I’m doing too much thinking and not enough feeling. My alarm clock goes off early every morning, and from that point until my head hits the pillow late at night – my mind is constantly racing. If I’m not in class, I’m studying for a class. If I’m not at a networking event, I’m researching potential companies for internships or employment. Even when I’m supposed to be taking time for myself - working out at the gym or having dinner with friends for example – I’m still thinking about what I should be doing to prepare for the next day. If there were a twitter feed attached directly to my brain, the flow would be dizzying.
What counts and what REALLY count are two very different things. What counts is getting good grades. What counts is making a good impression on my professors and colleagues. What counts is getting a good internship so that I can get a good job so that I can make a lot of money so that I can live the life I want. What REALLY counts is my family and my friends. I recently lost a loved one, and that definitely put things into perspective. Surrounded by the people I love, not one person was reminiscing about stock portfolios or vacation homes.
This might be sounding a little pessimistic, so let me also say that I am truly happy with the decision I made to attend graduate school. Education is value of mine, so no matter the career outcome, having an advanced degree is something I will be proud of. I’m also grateful to be back in a classroom. As and undergraduate I didn’t truly appreciate the value of academic dialog, and everyday is challenging and refreshing in the best ways.
My current environment consists of campus, coffee shops, and the confines of my apartment. Very little time on campus is actually spent in the classroom – I’m usually in the lobby of this building or that building, reading a book, surfing the Internet, chatting with friends, or blowing off steam at the gym. When I’m at home, I’m usually sleeping or watching a really bad reality show – one that I’ve recorded of course – so that I can watch an hour length show in about 40 minutes. I don’t watch the news for information; I either get in on my laptop in between classes, or on my iPhone on the bus on the way to school. I look at an average of 5 apps once an hour: Gmail, Google calendar, twitter, CNN, and Facebook.
Defining my circle of friends is tricky – because I’m not a Texas native, I have quite a few long distance relationships. I have made friends in the few months I’ve been in Austin, but they aren’t those deep friendships yet, the ones that take time to cultivate. Most of my great friends are scattered around the country, in places where I’ve spent the greatest amount of time – Seattle, California, and New York. Because my most significant relationships are in New York, I travel there just about once every two months. New York is the best place on earth as far as I’m concerned, and as soon as I get off the plane, I walk a little faster and smile a little more (though the smiling part is very un-New York, that must be an Austin influence).
As far as what I say and do, I think what you see is pretty much what you get with me. I’m more confident that I was in my early twenties; I’m not afraid to speak my mind or be myself in front of new people. I do care a great deal about my appearance (does this sound vain?) and feel better about myself when I am wearing a favorite outfit. I like to work out and stay fit, I like to wear makeup and nail polish and other feminine things, and I LOVE fashion. I don’t believe in the student uniform of gym shorts, a T-shirt, and North Face backpack – I believe that graduate school is my full-time job, and I like to dress the part.
I’m actually curious to hear what people would say about me. I think they’d say I’m driven, motivated, intelligent, and friendly. And here I go being vain again, but people tell me I have good hair. I like to think I’m funny, even though sometimes I’m the only one who laughs at my jokes. I’ve spent a great deal of time volunteering for an organization that is very dear to me, so I’d hope that people would say I’m a giver. Bosses would probably say I’m too much of a pleaser, and that I need to become less of a doormat – still working on that one. Last year when I ran the New York City Marathon, around mile 17 my Mom said, “Great job honey, but you can stop if you want too.” And my Dad said, “Come on, you can run faster than that.”
I’ve spent a great deal of the past year thinking about my fears actually, and my pains and gains are good to discuss in tandem. One of my greatest aspirations and measures of success is in my future career. I want to be an independent, respected, successful, and financially secure woman. I don’t want to depend on anyone to help me buy a house, I don’t want to just sit around and wait for promotions, and I don’t want to rely on someone else for my happiness. On the flip-side of this is my greatest fear – that I will be work with blinders on towards what I currently define as successful – and that ten years from now I will look back, all alone, and realize that I forgot to fall in love and forgot to have children. I’m only thirty, but it feels like I’m still behind in the game. It scares me to think about starting a new career at 32 when I graduate. It also scares me to think that what I currently define as successful doesn’t really matter in the end. At least I’m aware of that right?? No denial here.
If I'm ever a marketer trying to tap the mind of a consumer like me, I don't know what I'd do, actually. Which is probably why I feel like a missed segment. While I definitely know where I'm going - or at least where I think I'm going - my life is in a state of flux. I'm always connected to technology, but still I'm hard to reach. I'm definitely in a state of persona transition... sure is a fun place to be.
