20something profile: Jenna

This post was written by Jenna, who has degrees in marketing and graphic design:

I’ve always been pretty good at anything I’ve attempted, except for the time I tried to play softball. Luckily, I never had my heart set on becoming a professional softball player, but I also never had my heart set on much of anything in particular.

When the time came to enroll in a college program, I was clueless. I picked my major solely on which booth at the college convention looked the most interesting.

The next two years in Graphic Design were fun, and believe it or not, a lot of work. I learned more about self-motivation and endurance than I did Photoshop or typography. Upon graduation, the economy was quickly declining, and I realized that I’d never make a living on my art.

Still clueless to what I wanted to do with my life, I enrolled in the business program. I figured that was a nice, broad category. Surely there must be something out there meant for me. I majored in marketing because I thought it’d make the most sense with my graphic design background.

I really intended on working for an advertising agency one day, conceptualizing ideas for the next big Coca-Cola ad. That’d make me successful. However, once I graduated, I realized that the majority of immediate positions available to a freshly graduated marketing major are in sales. I’m an introvert. Selling isn’t quite my ‘thing.’

Luckily, I landed a job in the accounting department of a local company. It is paying my bills and allowing me to live a decently comfortable life for my age. It’s just…comfortable. Don’t get me wrong: In this economy, I am EXTREMELY lucky to have such an amazing job. I thank the stars above every day for the opportunity I have been given. However, it doesn’t do anything for my creative needs.

I still search daily for what I really want out of life, and when I start brainstorming, I come up with a million different ideas. The common denominator between all of those ideas is that I want to work for myself. I want to start something from scratch and build it into greatness. I don’t want to make millions; I want to make a difference to someone or something. I want to be successful based on my definition of success.

For now, I am taking life as it comes. It hasn’t steered me wrong thus far. I don’t see the value in continuing a formal education, but I am constantly educating myself on various subjects and bouncing business ideas off of my friends and family. I know my thought process is all over the place, but one day it will all come together and make sense.

One day, I will be doing what I love for a living. I just keep pushing forward because I know that one day I’ll arrive in exactly the right place at the right time. I have faith, because without faith, we have nothing.

For more of my writing, please visit: www.powerinpearls.com. My blog is a celebration of women and serves as a platform to inspire and unite women of all ages, races, social statuses, etc.

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