From 2007.
Seventeen years ago I walked out of my dorm at New Mexico State University feeling miniscule and unimportant, but at the same time excited about the adventure ahead. It was my first day of college and I lacked confidence in just about everything. I finished high school a Big Man on Campus; I knew everybody and it was great. At NMSU, I knew no one. I was an unknown—a speck of sand in the larger beach of the university. It was unnerving. I declared journalism as my major to meet the requirements of several scholarships I had received, but knew I would be changing it at the end of the semester based on a statement made by a trusted, world-famous journalist. I trudged onward to my first class anxious and excited about the unknown road ahead, but clueless that 17 years later, I would still be trudging through a campus towards my degree.
I blame Peter Jennings for derailing my degree in journalism. In April 1990, after being named New Mexico’s High School Journalist of the Year, the Albuquerque Journal flew me to Washington, D.C. to participate in a national journalism conference with other award-winning high school journalists. It was here, in an intimate group setting that Jennings said, “Whatever you do, don’t major in journalism. You can be trained to be a journalist, go be something else first so you have some perspective.” I could not believe my ears! One of the biggest names in journalism was telling me not to major in journalism. I took his words to heart. I suddenly felt like I had to find another major and I had not even started college yet. It was a seminal moment. And the mental confusion it created set the stage for a college career of missteps, laziness, self-discovery, anguish, anger, and constant change.
Since that fall day in 1990 at New Mexico State, I have been a student at four universities and one community college. I have also stumbled into a handful of successful, amazing jobs providing me the focus, challenges, and understanding of the workplace enabling me to choose a career. I entered NMSU as a journalism major; I ended as a business major. In between, I majored in education, political science, and for a period of 30 minutes while waiting in line to register, I majored in civil engineering. After three years, countless parties, a startling lack of discipline, and the most unsuccessful educational career in my life, I left NMSU seeking some focus and stability at the University of New Mexico. My grades were horrible. I had spent three years drinking, attending parties, and trying to figure out who I was. I thought by leaving State, I would leave behind the parties, the peer pressure, and the bad influences I held responsible for my slacker lifestyle. Years later, I realized accepting responsibility for myself, having strength in and courage of my convictions, and pride in myself are the things that keep those influences in check.
Fate has a funny way of throwing up obstacles to point you in the right path. After attempting to finish my business degree at UNM, then switching to architecture, and then finally dropping out, I moved to Washington, D.C. Communication has always been a strong thread in my life, from being an award-winning high school journalist, to being the historian and secretary of my fraternity, to being the managing editor of UNM’s daily student newspaper. Once in D.C., that thread continued. While taking a break from college, I worked on Capitol Hill for a congressman as one of several staff responsible for answering mail. Ultimately (and in another seminal moment), I designed his first—and one of the first—web sites on Capitol Hill. After failing to pass the “second gate” requirements for George Mason University’s business school, I had one of those “head slapping” moments of clarity. I finally saw my strong, life-long thread of communication, recognized that I enjoy creating things that allow people to communicate, and realized that a degree in communication was the best way to finish a long and not-so-illustrious college career.
I have spent nearly a decade creating web sites, developing brand identities, and doing graphic design. I will graduate in May 2008 with a degree in Communication with an emphasis in public relations. I have been fortunate to find myself working full-time in a public affairs office doing the things I do best. I am already deep into my field. After working for two Members of Congress and two Senators, plus the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms and a small, government-owned foreign aid company, I have eight years until I can retire from the federal government. My quest for a degree—and at this point it is a quest—is really to “check a box” and to prove to myself that I can do it. I have succeeded in the professional world without the degree with an equal amount of skill and luck. When telling my story, I always footnote it with, “this is not the way to manage your career or to begin a professional life.” But even as I say it, I do not think I sound convincing. Two of the nation’s greatest technical and business-savvy minds, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, dropped out of college. I am convinced, however, that my chosen career path is right for me and I see myself remaining in the communication field for easily the next 30 years.