change of pace

Second blog in less than a day - strange, I know. I'm sitting here thinking about how my life has changed dramatically in the last year and decided I had to write about it.

Last January, I was eagerly anticipating crossing the stage for my degree and turning 21. I was starting my craziest semester of college; juggling 20 hours of class (which included producing for the TCU morning newscast) and working 25+ hours a week. I moved back into my sorority house and ended up rooming with a new member who I hadn't met until the day I moved in - essentially, I had no idea how the next five months of my life were going to go.

I was afraid I was going to fail.

That fear is nothing new to me; I feel it all the time. 2009 was a year of discovering that regardless of how much different and scary something is, it doesn't mean I can't handle it.

Fast forward to July - I was in the middle of my first summer post-college and wondering if anyone would ever hire me. Several friends who graduated before me were still unemployed, which left me fearful that I would spend the rest of '09 scraping by as I lived at home and worked temporary gigs here and there. Does that sound ridiculously dramatic? Of course it does... but consider the economic situation and cut me a little slack, please.

I landed an interview with a newspaper in the strangest way possible - through Twitter. While the interview went well and gave me plenty to talk about for my job blog with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I had this sinking feeling that I wouldn't get the job - it's virtually unheard of for a recent college grad to land a gig working for a major news outlet with absolutely zero post-grad news experience. I had defied odds before, but this seemed a bit much for even me. I was thankful to even earn the opportunity to interview and introduce myself as a potential employee somewhere down the road.

In case you hadn't guessed... I didn't get the job. I was disappointed but completely okay with it. My parents were extremely supportive; my father continued to remind me of his favorite line - "this too shall pass."

Pass it did, as I interviewed for two more jobs and got both of them. When I was hired to write full-time for a paper and work as a high school football sideline reporter for a new website, I was overjoyed. College wasn't a waste of time! I could use my degree - amazing! (The latter was actually said to me in church not long before I moved.)

The next big step was moving out on my own to a small town where I didn't know a soul. Sure, I'd met my editor and publisher when I interviewed, but I had no other ties to the little coastal town. Finding an apartment was difficult and figuring out utilities was even worse, but that's another story entirely for another post. Daunting as it seemed, I chose to relish the chance to start over in a place where no one knew me.

Four months later, most people know me by name but not by face... unless they work at Wal-Mart, since I seem to find a reason to be there more than once a week - usually because I forgot something. Life is completely different now - for a city girl used to going anywhere almost anytime, I'm still adjusting to having nearly the entire town (save for the 24-hour Wal-Mart of course) shut down by 8 or 9 p.m. It's 9:36 p.m. and I'm 25 miles away in Victoria, sipping tea at the closest Starbucks to my apartment.

Yes, I said 25 miles. It's been an adjustment... but that's life.

It's really not so bad. People are incredibly kind and most would do anything to help you, even if it meant giving you the shirt off their back. The whole town rallied around the high school football team this past season as they made their way to my hometown of San Antonio to play in the Alamodome in the state 4-A playoffs a la "Friday Night Lights." There are two Dairy Queens less than five minutes from each other, something that still fascinates me in this economy.

Life is different, but living in a new place has allowed me to try just being... Emily.