Tomorrow is the big day! I think I am still in denial about the whole thing-me? a college graduate? Nah!! But, it is going to happen whether I like it or not. I am really hoping to enjoy this weekend, although I know there will be much talk about what I will be doing; and mainly where I will be living come June 1st when I move to Georgia.
While I am really excited to start the next chapter in my life, I am also pretty apprehensive. I always thought that I would have an easy time finding a really great job fresh out of school with some big PR firm somewhere close enough to Clemson that I could come in for football weekends if I wanted, but far enough that I could build a new life without living too vicariously through my friends. Little did I know these ideas are the stuff of fairy tales and rarely happen. I do consider myself very lucky however, to have been offered a number of opportunities both paid and unpaid (although not so much full time). This summer will definitely be one where I learn lots and lots and make myself the most marketable Rachel Doyle I can possibly be! Who wouldn’t want to turn down a girl with agency, start-up corporate, freelance and not for profit PR experience…because I will have all of this experience by the end of the summer!
I think the thing that makes me most apprehensive is the financial aspect of this whole endeavor. I did not work this semester and it is beginning to be clearly obvious that a) should have worked and b) should have been a little more honest with how much the cost of living in Clemson was. I have a bad tendency to feel really bad asking my parents for money and that leads me to asking for less money than I should, which was never a problem when I was working because I made up the difference. Now that I have not been working money has been going down the drain faster than the American auto industry (that was a bad joke; I apologize) and it is really coming to bite me in the ass that I didnt ask for more money when I had the chance. Now that I am moving to Georgia where the cost of living is higher, I know I will still be financially dependant on my parents at least through the summer and that kills me because I want so bad to not have to ask for money anymore! I just want a paycheck that I worked for that will cover my expenses. I know that in a way I am costing my parents less money by not moving back home and then attempting to fly down south constantly, but I still feel terrible that I am still reliant on them so much; I always thought that I would be able to support myself financially by graduation day.
Maybe the magical money fairy will swoop down and give me a winning lottery ticket….
Last Dance with Clemson U 