Well, that’s not completely true, but my statement is not as crazy as it sounds. While the idea of learning to grapple with disappointment appears a great challenge, it transforms into a sense of comfort when one realizes it’s all for the love of a dream. When you know that achieving your goals is your only option, you force your dream to become a reality. So I did. And that was my motivation for dropping everything and moving to that place they call the "Big Apple."

I came to UCLA in the Fall of 1998 as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed freshman ready to begin the rest of her life. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life and who I wanted to become — an Art Director at a top Advertising Agency. I had the plan carefully laid out: (1) Enroll in classes related to my field; (2) Get good grades; (3) Apply for the Communications major; (4) Find an internship at an ad agency; (5) Look for advertising jobs; (6) Get a job; (7) Graduate; (8) Start living my dream. It didn’t really work that way. To start, my grades were indeed good but not stellar; rather than ensue rejection, I never even applied to become a communications major. Finding an internship then became inherently difficult, having limited myself to the classes and professors I needed to guide me. I was at a loss, and as my senior year approached, I feared that the destiny I had conceived of would never be realized. Furthermore, the devastation of our nation in September of 2001 convinced me that there was truly no hope for any of us. And it was with this mindset that I walked into the UCLA Career Center.

One of the University’s great, untapped resources is its Career Counselors. Oftentimes, in a school as large as UCLA, students are left feeling like just another number lost in a sea of students. And, if you let that be the case, it can most definitely consume you. What so few students realize, however, is that there is guidance and information housed in “that building aside Lot 8.” “What’s in that building?” I had so many people ask me, astonished to find out that inside stood the UCLA Career Center. I only wish more of them had reaped the benefits of that grand place. All of the Career Counselors are equally qualified to handle the endless questions and rigors of the disheartened senior who suddenly has doubts about the future. “What is my true calling?” “Should I go to grad school?” and “How do I find a good job?” are questions that so many of us, myself included, have asked. Fortunately, that’s what the Career Center is there for — your life post-UCLA. For me, I do not know how else I would have effectively navigated the uncharted territory of the real world.

I was fortunate enough to find my Career Counselor-to-be, Danelle Boone, as I anxiously sat down for my first appointment. Though it may sound mundane or simple, she asked me the most basic questions about my goals, hopes, and career aspirations. Afterwards, I bubbled in my answers to standardized tests such as the Myers-Briggs, hoping they would enlighten me on what sort of career suited my personality. The point of the questions and tests, I soon came to realize, was not necessarily to give me the “answer” of what I could or should do with my life, but rather in what directions I could steer myself. The aim, I feel, is to open one’s eyes to the many possible fields and careers one could excel at with his or her given skill set. For me, as it turns out, I was most suited for my dream job. The only problem then, was getting there.

Job-hunting quickly became both an immense pain and a labor of love. Accepting that the economy was in dire straights and employers were making cutbacks, limiting and even eliminating new hires, Danelle convinced me that it would be wise to broaden my horizons and apply for jobs I might not have initially considered. Just because you don’t start with your dream job does not mean you’ll never get there, she taught me. Instead of letting me view the glass as half-empty, where few jobs I liked were even available, Danelle helped to show me how certain aspects of a maybe not-so-perfect job could help me build on my skills to attain the position of my choice in the future. So, there I was — a perfectly intelligent, bright, aspiring student — just as qualified as the other 500 students applying for the very same position. Discouraging? Yes. Impossible? No. I applied and interviewed for job after job, through my entire senior year, and nothing. I was not offered a single one of them. All I could think was how ridiculous and unfair the entire process was and that the degree I had worked so hard to obtain was literally nothing more than a piece of paper. Some days, I was nearly brought to tears at the thought of being unemployed and rejected from even the jobs I applied to as “safeties”.

As it turns out, it really was all for the best. If I had actually been offered any of the jobs for which I interviewed, I likely would have accepted one and stayed in Los Angeles, bored and wishing I was doing something else. After taking time off during the summer to think and cure the travel bug in my system, I made the bold decision to do something I’ve always wanted to do: move to the East Coast. For the longest time, my plan was actually to move to Boston, but upon further assessment of my career goals, I concluded that New York City would be a better fit for a new beginning. The Big Apple is, after all, the “capital of the world” in so many arenas, and the world of advertising is no exception.

Upon informing my parents of my “master plan,” there was much opposition and displeasure. Try as I might to explain that the opportunities I would have in New York were endless, they could not seem to disagree more. Instead of seeing this as a great adventure for me — a study abroad of sorts in the US — they saw their daughter setting herself up for disappointment and failure. Repeatedly, all I heard from my elders (parents, relatives, friends, etc.) was how very challenging this would be (i.e., that this was not the time, the economy was too poor, threats of terrorism made moving too risky, the winters would be too brutal and the summer heat too unbearable, and on the list went). The more they pushed, however, the more I pulled away and reaffirmed to myself that this would not be so impossible as it seemed. So many moments, I wanted to give up and just accept that they all probably knew better, and each and every time, I bounced back. What gave me this resilience? Well, much of it sprung from my aggressive, persistent personality, but a large factor that kept me going was Danelle. She never let me give up on myself and reminded me that if this was what I wanted to do, I should try it. The worst thing that possibly could have happened would have been defeat — not finding a job, running out of money, and returning to San Diego empty-handed. Not that this would have been anything ideal, but it certainly would not have been something disastrous. At least I would have made my best attempt, and though I wanted my parents’ support, I remained firm on the idea that I would rather go and fail than never try at all and regret it.

For the next 4.5 months, all I did was work. At one point, I was working three jobs. Most weeks, I went without any days off, from hostessing at one restaurant to the next or in and out of my office job. The more quickly I earned my savings for New York, the sooner I would get there. I had decided to make my big move in January (in the midst of one of the most wicked winters the city had even seen) because I knew it would be the most promising time for new hires. I spent any spare moments I had sending out resumes to headhunters, employment/staffing agencies, through job web sites, through company postings, or just plain blindly. Receiving few responses, I attempted to contact UCLA Alum through the Alumni Network and the UCLA Club of New York. Unfortunately, finding a UCLA grad in the New York advertising industry proved surprisingly difficult. Still, I took the advice of anyone who responded and made the most of the network I had available to me. As the time drew near to leave California, I spent two straight weeks glued to the computer, scouring numerous online job sites. Finally, I got smart and realized I should try placing a local address on my resume rather than a California address. I used my cousin’s address in New Jersey, which is where I would be staying upon arrival. That was how I first began to receive responses, and by the time I left for New York, I had two appointments with staffing agencies and one interview with an advertising agency.

I had done my homework from job searching to studying maps galore. I wanted to have the clearest possible picture in my head of where I was going and how to most efficiently go about my day. Because I was commuting into the city by means of mass transit (a novel concept for us car-bound Californians) I only had a limited number of hours to accomplish my tasks. Once I had been in New York City for two weeks, I had registered with 12 staffing agencies, gone on multiple interviews, and I had given my resume to anyone I knew and asked them to pass it on to people they knew. Basically, I was ruthless, but I had to be.

The staffing agencies are spectacular because they want to find you a job possibly even more than you do. You DO NOT have to pay them, but they don’t get paid unless you’re getting paid. Essentially, companies contract out to staffing agencies to do the “leg work” of finding potential applicants for positions they have available. The agency then makes a commission (paid by the contracted company) off of the person they have referred. I can attest to the validity of these agencies because that is how I found most of my interviews. Furthermore, a good staffing agency will have both Temporary and Permanent departments so that they can find temp work for you while you interview for a permanent position. They even take care of getting you an extended lunch break so you can go on interviews. Sound too good to be true? It’s not, and in just under a month, I had my first two week temp assignment, courtesy of a staffing agency. I continued to interview, however, and search for full time positions vigorously. After finishing up the temp job, I started at a “temp to perm” job (doing temporary work for an extended period of time while your skills are assessed, with the likelihood of being hired on permanently) with a publishing company. It was actually on my first day there that I had the interview for what was to become my first job. Granted, I did feel a little wrong skipping out on my first day to interview for another position, but if I’ve learned anything from this experience, it is the importance of being independent and looking out for yourself; this does not mean to be selfish but rather to be aware of your surroundings and what will be the best in the long run.

I am still employed today by the company that gave me my first job, and though it’s not exactly a dream job, it’s a start. The point is, I have my foot in the door, and I was able to earn an entry level job at one of the companies belonging to an advertising giant. The last day of 2003 will mark my nine month anniversary with the company, and I am told that a promotion is likely in the New Year. As it happens, I came to interview for my current position four months after a friend of a family friend’s daughter passed on my resume to her company. It was really that far removed. A purely aggressive attitude was nothing short of essential. I exhausted every possible resource I could fathom because I would not accept failure.

That was my story, and this is my dream. I only hope that I have inspired another Bruin to do what I have done, as I understand, the frustrations and fears of making such a huge leap. The world is truly what you make of it, and it can sometimes be hard to imagine a life outside of the greater Los Angeles area, but that’s what it takes to succeed at life in the Big City.