Intros

Heyyy People,

Hi. My name's Gretchen. I have an unhealthy obsession with (most) animals, coffee, and makeup. Feel like you know me? Okay. Let's just jump right into this, shall we?

Last summer I graduated from college with my Bachelor's in English. I'm in my late 20's, and I've been out of the whole "working girl" game since 2008. 7 years, you guys. Resigning from my last job was a mistake on my part, but that's a post for another time. Yes, I resigned from my job in late 2008. Yes, I still kind of feel like an idiot for it. But I was 22. People make mistakes when they're 22.

I had a transfer degree, and tried a couple of times (unsuccessfully) to enroll in 2 different universities. Third time ended up being a charm and in 2011, I went back to the university I had tried to attend in the first place. Three years, a few crises, and many, many essays and presentations later, I earned my degree. But let's go back to 2011 for a minute . . .

Ahh, 2011. A little movie called Bridesmaids dominated movie theaters, and Adele was taking the airwaves by storm with a tune called Rolling in the Deep. Think hard. Remember? Good. So this was around the same time I made my return to school. Plenty of people were happy to hear of this decision, and immediately wanted to know what I planned to study. My reply, that I was planning to study in the English literature department, was usually met with this question: "Oh! What grade do you want to teach?"

. . . Eeeerhhhhhm . . .  (quietly) none of them?

I figured I might get some of that, and a lot of people do take an English lit degree back into the classroom to teach. It was frustrating though, to have so many people actually laugh at me and tell me that teaching was the only thing an English degree was good for anyway, that a Bachelor's degree is only as good as a high school diploma these days. and that if I didn't plan to teach I'd still be unemployable upon my graduation. These were all things I really, seriously heard from people.

These things are not true. I'm willing to be a little vulnerable here and say that I'm someone who struggles with self-esteem and depression anyway, and hearing these things didn't help. And I'm sure the people I talked to were not trying to bully me. But these are the things that made it harder for me to branch out of the retail world during college and after graduation. So far, these have been the only jobs I've actively gone after.

For the record, here's just some of what a lil' ol' English degree offers:

• A well-rounded education: at the university I went to anyway, students were encouraged to take classes outside of the English major. Some of the other classes I took were music, history, and film.
• Comprehensive knowledge of major literary movements and the people who contributed to them: Courses like these test your memory, if nothing else. But it's not nothing else. Learning these things sparks curiosity, offers insight into the past. and, for lack of a better phrase, gives otherwise uninterested people something to be passionate about. Wanna know more about Old and Middle English slang? We got that. Insight into what women's lives were like in the 18th century? Look no further than a women's narratives class. Comics and graphic novels? Welcome!!! Major players of the Harlem Renaissance? . . . You get the idea.
• Writing practice: So what do we do after we've read all this stuff? Write about it, of course! I've written papers as simple as a paragraph in response to the first four chapters of an assigned reading, and as involved as a twelve (I believe) page response/rebuttal to a scholarly article on The Tempest. I've written papers in french (part of the B.A. program requires you to choose a second language). Some of these papers have been torture (I'm lookin' at you, 15 pages on 19th century printing presses!), and some have actually been kind of a blast to work on and think about (critical analysis of "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion", anyone?)
• Practice talking in front of people: No, we don't all just sit with our noses in books. Some of us may try to get away with that, but it usually doesn't work. Not only do we get together in groups to discuss what we'll be presenting, but usually we have to organize that information into a power point presentation, and find ways to engage the rest of the class. Our grades depend on it. Also, if the occasional group member slacks off, or bails altogether, the rest of us have to think fast and be on our toes. We have to cover for them and learn the information they promised to present.

So this is what I spent three years doing. I'll probably talk more about this on the blog in the future, too. I've made mistakes that I wish I could have corrected, and that are coming back to bite me now. Hindsight, amiright?

This past year, I've been applying for jobs, like a good college graduate, even if they are all retail jobs. Retail jobs are nothing to laugh at, either. I've done retail jobs, and they are mentally and emotionally draining, not to mention physically challenging. Maybe not as challenging as other jobs, but I remember backaches and sore feet at the end of my shifts. Not hearing back from potential employers and having online applications rejected before I could even talk to a manager had me discouraged, and I kind of gave up around the new year.

About a month ago though, I found out through my mother about a program at the employment office that helps people in their job search. I don't know how long this has been going on, and I had no idea it even existed. But since I've started with it, it's worked wonders for my motivation alone. I've started applying for stuff again. I'm starting to dream a little bigger, and recognize that I can do more than retail. Old habits do die hard though, and I do sometimes still find myself looking for retail work.

I'm learning the hard way. Or I was, before I knew just what kind of resources are available to me. I'm making mistakes and gleaning the lessons from them. Part of the goal here is to pass those lessons along to anyone who takes an interest in this little endeavor of mine. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what the other parts of my goal ought to be. I guess they'll reveal themselves to me through the writing process.

So . . . Welcome.