How to Get What You Want in Life

Seizing and Receiving Opportunity

Some Background

(Psst! Jump to "1. Don't Rush" if you only want the advice part) 

     It's amazing what happens when you let life play out in its own time. Situations change and shift organically without any input from us. Opportunities tend to evade you when it's all you can think about and present themselves when it's the last thing on your mind. While I still believe in taking control of your own life, an important lesson I had to learn is to welcome the things I can't control.  

    Throughout high school, I struggled with many things, including mental and physical health. My grades suffered because of it and I feared that my life wouldn't amount to anything significant. Not for lack of trying, of course. It felt like my life was spiraling out of control the more I tried to get a grip on things. 

    When I graduated, I thought it would be best to start my journey as a young adult at Washtenaw Community College (WCC). Some of the reasons I chose WCC were because of my grades (I had finished high school with a 2.8 GPA), it was close to home, it was affordable, and I had preconceived notions about community colleges and the people who attended them. 

    It wasn't until I got to Washtenaw that I started making real changes to my life and how I perceived various aspects of my day-to-day. Not only that, but I could finally focus on things that interested me and hone in on what I wanted to do with my future career. That fantastic place transformed me and jump-started the process of making me who I am today. I went from a student with a B- average to a student on the high honor roll. I became someone who believed they had a place in the world and I was eager to do so. When it was time to move on, I did so with two associate's degrees and a certificate in tow. 

    In the fall of 2021, I continued my higher education at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). I declared communication as my major and public relations (PR) as my minor. WCC and EMU are sister schools that have a transfer program where students complete the majority of their credits at WCC. "The college now offers 49 active 3+1 articulation agreements," according to Richard Rezler in 2019. More information about WCC's programs can be found here.

    Towards the end of my first semester at EMU, I set up an advising appointment with the head of the public relations department, Dr. Jaime Ward. Because of the transfer agreement, I have a very limited number of classes to complete before graduating with my bachelor's degree. 

    My only concern that led up to this appointment was when the remaining PR classes would be offered so I could take them accordingly. While Dr. Ward did answer my questions, she also proposed an opportunity that kicked me into a career-oriented mindset. She offered to help me get a PR internship through the university which would qualify as an elective course. I was thrilled and grateful for this potential experience. 

    After an interview, some examples of my work, and a little bit of time, I was accepted for the position. I participated during the Winter 2022 semester. It was such an incredible period where I got to put my education and skills to use in a professional environment. 

    It was through this internship that I met Marisa Salice. She was one of my supervisors and I met with her every other Tuesday to discuss projects and go over any questions. Marisa was an amazing person to work with and helped me problem solve, as did Dr. Ward as she oversees the PR interns. Towards the end of the semester, Marisa sent me an email about The Digital Summer Clinic. 

1. Make Connections

    Have you heard of the six degrees of separation? Not the movie from 1993 starring Will Smith, Stockard Channing, and Donald Sutherland. It is "The idea that we're all connected by just "six degrees"-six other people," said Gardiner Morse in the article The Science Behind Six Degrees. This article is a bit dated, but it explains in greater detail how the theory came to be and applies it in a comprehensible way. 

    If we're all connected in some way or another, that means that you're already connected to your dream jobs, ideal schools, soul mate, etc. But how do we get to the end goal? There are two ways to think about this scenario:

1. We should make as many connections as possible to what we want because the more connected we are, the more opportunities there are to get to it. 
2. We need to make specific connections that focus solely on what we want to hone in our chances.

    Some people know what they want to do for the rest of their lives starting in childhood. However, the majority of us have to go through life to figure out what we're meant to do. So, I'd like to propose a third option: 

      3. Both, a healthy balance between casting a wide net and getting to know people with like interests.

    My connections so far start with WCC leading me to EMU, EMU leading me to Dr. Ward, Dr. Ward leading me to Marisa, and Marisa leading me to The Digital Summer Clinic. Through the internship I have met professors in multiple departments, professionals at Google, Pinterest, and former employees with Ford.

2. Don't Rush

    Once my life was finally starting to feel worth living to the fullest, I dove head first into everything. This means that I hit my head on a couple of obstacles along the way because I didn't look where I was going.

    Fun fact: I applied for The Digital Summer Clinic in 2020. I didn't even realize it was the same internship until last week! While I was searching my Google Drive for a document, I found my original purpose statement for the internship instead.

    Taking your time to sort through life is a task that never goes away. 

3. Get Ready

    While we don't need to rush, we do need to be ready. Preparing ourselves to so we're able to receive the things we've been working so hard for. 

    In my last blog, one of my main points for overcoming first-day job/school/internship/etc anxiety was to be receptive. 

Conclusion

    You can be on your grind, submit your applications, and still be open to things yet to be seen. Throughout this whole blog, I have not once said to stop chasing your dreams! Chase them to your heart's content, but try not to run right passed them or be blind to them as your dreams may come in various forms. 

-The Adaptive Creative