Intern Report 2: Living the Dream

I can honestly say that I’ve never been this broke in my life. I put myself through four years of college with minimal (but much appreciated) help, but have never approached the level of ‘I’m broke’ as that in which I currently sit. And I couldn’t be happier.

Sure, I don’t have enough money to buy food this week (I’ve got bread and peanut butter at work, and the Corner Bakery downstairs has jelly for free) and I’ve been wearing the same contact lenses since at least December (significantly longer than the two weeks they’re meant to be worn) but guess what: I’m living in the third biggest city in the United States, working for one of the world’s biggest and best PR agencies, getting to create the social media voice of national brands and working with some truly wonderful people. I’ve got 10 pounds I could afford to lose anyway, right?

The point of this post is this: once you find the dream, pursue it at any cost. Granted- there is a possibility that in several months time I will be completely contradicting this post. Destitute, heart broken, jaded, cast out on the street and damning everything I ever wrote about optimism and pursuing goals. But right now, despite the potentially bleak conditions in which I find myself, I know in my heart that it’s just a step toward something incredible. I’ve already gotten a taste of what’s possible in my first two weeks at Weber, and I can’t wait for the Social Media Club Chicago event at the end of this month. After years of reading about PR and Social Media, I’m on the front lines- helping to draft content, establish personality and think how to communicate strategically on behalf of nationwide brands. Pardon my supreme nerd-dom, but this is AWESOME!

So keep your fingers crossed that Weber and the angels of the Culture Club (the folks behind the wonderful things that give #WSCHI such a welcoming environment) decide to bring free food this week, or that a great uncle I’ve never met leaves me a sizeable fortune. Or at least that I find some motivation and crank out some freelance articles to get a couple bucks to buy a sandwich. If not, at least I’ll look a  little thinner for beach season.

I think our friends from Monty Python had it right.