Taking the High Road

My name is Kovie and I guarantee that 87% of you reading this probably just pronounced my name wrong. But that’s okay, I’m not writing about how to pronounce my name. Today, I’m writing about the proverbial “High Road.”

A little bit about me first.  In a nutshell, I am Nicole Crimaldi’s “right-hand girl” here at MsCareerGirl.com and at her company MCG Media Inc.  I moved to Chicago last June after graduating from Drake with the intention of going to law school, but as it turns out “life” really is what happens while you’re making other plans (In other words, I am not in law school).

So, I find myself in this wonderful city, taking many a “high roads” – looking for a full-time experience in the broad area of Marketing and Event Planning that I will learn from and enjoy, and can tell a good story about later in life. (I am still crashing my brother’s apartment so this needs to happen sooner rather than later). As an international, I’m also looking for companies that will sponsor my work stay here  when my “free work stay” runs out. If you have any international friends ask them about this wearisome process…

Last but not least, I’m working on growing MCG Media, Inc. the social marketing company that Nicole founded along with coordinating Ms. Career Girl Connect networking events and co-hosting our #MCGConnect chat.  So, yes, in my post-grad journey, I think I am entitled to say I am indeed taking the high road.

This road comes at a price – mentally, financially, socially, etc. There are many people who have given me all sorts of advice and criticism over the last eight months. Some of it I asked for and some of it I didn’t. A lot of it made sense and a lot of it didn’t.  I’ll give you an easy example of something as simple as my resume.  I don’t claim to have a resume resembling Einstein’s, but for a recent grad, I’d say it’s pretty good. Still, I don’t have a full-time experience that I would go for, so clearly I’m missing something. I have had several professionals including HR personnel and recruiters look at it and sure enough everybody had something (different) to say. It seems, however, that true to form, the experts disagreed about everything from the aesthetics to the language used. Has this ever happened to you?

Eventually I realized that it’s not everyone’s advice that I should take, and for that matter, it’s not everyone’s advice that I should ask for.

The other part of my High Road is that for most of my life, I have known exactly what to do and that is something I struggle with right now. Some days, I feel like the world is at my feet and other days, I feel like I am in a narrow cave with only a few options.  I don’t want to go on a long sappy story about how “I am trying to find myself and my purpose” but while I am in a position where I truly have some time to think about what I want and don’t want, I’m going to use that time.

It is true that what we do as a career is separate from who we are. BUT, one cannot deny that what we do is indeed a huge part of who we are. I am also of the personal opinion, that everyone has a vocation, or a calling. The struggle, of course is not settling for what is available, but with determination and discernment, trying to figure out what that purpose is. Sometimes this means being willing to take the financial, mental and social sacrifices that one makes on this high road. Something tells me that in the long-run, it is worth it.

The high road is not for everyone. I don’t mean for it to sound like those of us who take it are special. Sometimes, and certainly in my case, one doesn’t always have control over all the decisions and situations that lead to this less than travelled road. Alas, control and choice is not the same thing. I don’t have control over being a non-citizen who is literally under a time crunch to get sponsored in order to stay here. I don’t have control over a company’s decision to consequently hire me or not. I do, however, have a choice about how hard I work to make this happen. I have a choice about how much effort I put into growing MCG Media Inc. Above all, I have a choice about my attitude.

When I look at my very short life story thus far, giving simple examples like my decision to go to Drake University or to meet with Nicole and work with her, I realized something profound: there are people who don’t know what they want, and their high road is trying to figure that out.  Then there are people who know exactly what they want and their high road is trying to get it. Then there are people like me, who are not sure what they want…until they find it.

What’s your high road like?

I hope you’ll join me here every other Thursday as I share my stories on my not-so-certain high road.

Cheers,

Kovie

To find out more about my post-grad journey, check out my personal blog at eventmarketingrookie.wordpress.com.