beyondwords welcomes today’s guest blog author, Julie Becker. Julie is the Ideation Specialist at Motion Marketing & Media (M3) in Lansing, MI. Julie earned her B.A. in creative advertising at Michigan State University (MSU) and graduated in May 2009. Her work at M3 touches areas of communication, writing, design, and social media marketing.
Julie is passionate about innovative thought and collecting desk tchotchkes. She actively works to connect college students with the downtown Lansing area, most recently as the co-creator of Lansing Breakfast Club. You can find her on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
I’ll never forget it.
I was riding the CATA bus on an overcast day in March, on my way to the Communication Arts building at MSU. It was the spring of 2006 and I couldn’t believe I was about to become a statistic. I never thought it would be me, but there I was, about to change my major.
Journalism was my first love and the reason I chose to attend MSU. Yet here I was abandoning it, trading it in for the political, dirty, oversexed world of (gasp!) advertising.
It wasn’t the transition I was ultimately upset with; it was the fact that the institutionalized world of education forced me to choose one avenue, one path, one passion to study. “How is this even possible?” I thought to myself. “How can I be expected to choose?”
But my passion for design at the time was slightly greater than that of writing (we’re talking fractions). So, I made the switch and vowed to enroll in as many journalism (JRN) classes as my new major would allow. There weren’t many opportunities, but in the fall of 2007 I found myself in JRN 205, Writing for the Media.
My instructor for the course, and now my boss at M3, was Tiffany Dowling. Tiffany was the first, and one of few, to take a professional chance on my abilities as a student.
It was October of my junior year, and I realized I had nothing to lose. Tiffany knew everyone in Lansing, so I laid my cards on the table for her one day after class.
This was my sitch, and exactly what I told her:
- I hate the student organization I’m currently working for, but I’m not leaving it unless I can find something better.
- The life of a young designer is a paradox: you can’t get a decent job without a portfolio, but you can’t build a decent portfolio without a job . . . I currently have neither.
- I’d like a position that is flexible and allows me to work on both my design and writing skills.
- And while we’re at it, I am absolutely broke as joke and could use some cash. So if the position pays, that would be great.
- If you know anyone that could fill this tall order, I’d really appreciate you passing along my information.
Tiffany said, right then and there, “I don’t know about anyone else, but why don’t you try out M3? I think we have some work for you.”
The long and short of it: I worked at M3 and its affiliate, Capital Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine, as an intern from November 2007 until May 2009, and started full time, salaried, the Monday after graduation.
Landing the opportunity seemed too easy, and frankly, it was. It was keeping the opportunities coming that took sacrifice and intense dedication. For the last year and half of my time at MSU, my schedule went something like this:
7:30am — Arrive at M3 and work until 11:30am or 12 noon
12 noon-ish — Eat in the car; attend classes until 4:30 or 5pm
5pm — Grab a bite in the cafeteria, work as a resident assistant from 5:30 until 11pm with my door open, ready to assist my students while attempting to complete my homework
11pm (or so) — Get some sleep and start over again the next day
Near the end of my college career, I began to feel awful pangs of regret. Had I just completely worked away my years at MSU? I mean, I didn’t party, I didn’t spend exorbitant amounts of money at the bar, and I had never been arrested or taken to the “drunk tank”. Who was I?
Looking around me at graduation, I saw the cliques of students who would move on with photo albums of great weekends with their housemates and neighbors. I saw my acquaintances from the advertising program that coordinated bar crawls and would probably stand up in each other’s weddings. I had none of it.
I did have one thing that most of them didn’t, though: a great job. I also had a professional network, an overflowing portfolio, and a start to a real career.
Tiffany told me near graduation that I was lucky to have such noticeable passion, for advertising, for writing . . . for so many things. Having multiple passions was never a curse; it was my blessing.
There are many people that go through life never finding one passion, and I had found at least two; two that motivated me to take a course with an instructor who ultimately gave me an opportunity to transform her company and begin my career.
Now, I have my whole life to build photo albums and find my bridesmaids (oh, and a husband). Thanks to that day in the spring of 2006, I now have a life and a lifestyle that’s creating many more unforgettable days and nights, right here in Lansing. And I owe everything to my passions.
Tags: guest blog, internship, M3, passion, social media