I graduated from college in 2009.  I lived at home in Marblehead for six months.  I left Marblehead and moved to Brighton.  I interned at the oh-so-awesome CerconeBrownCompany for four months, unpaid, part-time, while hostessing at the Regal Beagle in Brookline.  I got hired as a full-time employee in April and quickly transitioned from a “what on earth am I doing with my life” college graduate to a young professional.   A young professional?  OK, time to grow up.  I dove right into the nine-to-five grind, working long hours and absorbing as much information as I could.

My experience at CBC was invaluable.  The people there are creative geniuses, brilliant, innovative, and will make a difference in the ever-changing world of public relations.  About eight months after I was hired, my relationship with CBC got rocky.  I know this seems a bit odd, but I compare my employment at CBC to a monogamous relationship.  After eight months with CBC we hit a rough patch.  I wanted more responsibilities, but I felt like people doubted me.  There were instances where I let my nerves get the best of me.  One week things would be great and I was confident.  Other weeks I felt  like I was incompetent.  Somewhere in the mix I had an epiphany and realized that my future did not include PR and I wanted to get my Master’s degree in journalism, like I had initially planned right after I graduated from UNH.  Shortly after that I mentally checked out.  Yes, I showed up for work and yes, I got my work done.  But it wasn’t enough.  I had a talk with my boss one Friday afternoon and he said either things change five minutes ago or I say goodbye.

I went home thinking that was it and I was a complete failure. I was 23-years-old and failed my first job, wonderful. I’m an Ogan, and I am certainly not a failure. I went into work Monday and decided to prove not only to my co-workers, but most importantly to myself that I am capable of succeeding.  Surely enough, I made a complete 180 and about six weeks later was named Employee of the Month.

Next step: Make ake my goal of getting into grad school a reality.  All I needed was that extra leap and boy, did I leap far.

At this point it was March 2010 and I had to have my grad school application in by June 1.  I came home from work and studied for the GREs until my eyes succombed to exhaustion.  I poured my heart and soul into my application essay and clicked and finally clicked “submit.”  A month later, I received my acceptance letter and embraced the adventure that was to come

So here I am.  Sitting in the office of journalism at the totally hot, Emerson College.   I’m overcome with excitement.  I’m ambitions, I have big kahunas and I’m going to be a fantastic journalist some day.  So that’s basically my post-grad life thus far.  Stay tuned for more about the life of a semi-clueless grad student with [too] big plans.