It's 2020... I graduated! And am employed!

Well, 2020 has been 2020. I don't think that I need to explain much further...

I have so missed whatever "normal" used to be. It was really difficult to spend the year without visits to grandparents and other family, and I just spent my first Christmas ever without my sister. I am so grateful for my health and the health of my loved ones, but I think everyone agrees that this year has been the most difficult one yet.

However, 2020 has had a few highlights for me...

I graduated from college! That's right, after 3.5 years, I officially have a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Broadcast & Cinematic Arts with a minor in Legal Studies and an Undergraduate Certificate in Technical and Professional Writing! Here's a bit of a reader's digest version of events:

I spent 3 years working incredibly hard in Central Michigan University's Broadcast & Cinematic Arts program, and I took a special liking to audio production and radio station operations.

Simultaneously, my quirky sophomore composition professor recommended me to CMU's Writing Center to become a consultant. The Writing Center definitely wasn't on my radar; I was just writing as well as I could to get the best possible grade. I started working at the WC, and I met some of the best and brightest folks there.

I was faced with a pretty intense bout of Imposter Syndrome when I started at the WC. These people were geniuses and mostly English majors, and I had essentially stumbled into the job. Everyone was incredibly kind, but I wasn't really sure how to handle the inferiority that I was feeling. I thought I could do something to up my English credentials.

That's when I started the Technical and Professional Writing Undergraduate Certificate through CMU's Global Campus. Quite a mouthful there! It helped me feel better about my English abilities and made my practice at the Writing Center a lot more accurate and effective.

Then, in January 2020, I celebrated my 21st birthday at home in Denver, CO, and I got an offer to be a Technical Writing Intern at Shure Incorporated.

It felt like the planets were aligning and presenting me with a perfect niche in which to begin my professional career. I got to write content about products that I used every day at CMU. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, when COVID first hit the US, it was just an extended Spring Break. Then, it became the rest of the spring semester. I started to worry about my internship. Would I be able to relocate to Niles, IL safely? Would I have to work remotely? I watched as internships slipped through my friends' fingers like sand, and I hoped for the best.

With incredible luck and perhaps some sort of divine intervention, I was able to work remotely, from my mom's basement in Denver, all summer at Shure. The learning curve was steep, and I yearned for close relationships with my intern cohort. We did our best to make friends with one another, and I eventually got my footing in my work.

Remote work turned out to have a silver lining. A couple short weeks after my summer internship ended, my manager asked if I'd like to continue my internship part-time from school in Michigan. Of course, I said yes! It was a great way for me to continue to learn about Technical Writing, and it served double-duty as a chance for me to get my foot in the door because...

I accepted an offer to continue working at Shure as a Technical Content Specialist I! I'll essentially be doing the same work I did as an intern, but now I'm not an intern! Eventually, I'll move to Niles, but for the time being, I'm back in Denver, working from home, and trying my best to enjoy what I can.

I think back to my educators who have essentially elevated me to this point in my life. High school English teachers pushed me to write even if it was begrudgingly. Band directors and drama teachers served as mentors and sometimes, shoulders to cry on. Science teachers taught me to try my best in any challenge, even if it's hard. College professors showed me the tech and skills needed to make what I wanted to make and pushed me to excellence even if it meant 4 a.m. appointments in the studio. Some professors weren't afraid to grade harshly if it meant improving my skills. If nothing else, it made me ten times more tenacious. Educators have it pretty hard right now, but I hope that they know that they change lives, and I'm just one example. May all your students turn their cameras on for Zoom class!

It's difficult to receive good news and try to move on and build a life when I know that the world has been changed by COVID and things will certainly never be the same. We aren't through the thick of things yet. I struggle with how often I should be celebrating compared to how much I just want to grieve the loss of life, love, and experiences that has befallen us all. I feel like I'm living on some sort of midway step between "cautious optimism" and "pessimism." I hope that the future holds joy and love and warmth for everyone, but I know that we need to put in the work to make that happen. The world isn't going to return to normal on its own.

For now, I will be working on my new normal, whatever that is. I'm interested to see where the pieces of the puzzle fall.