There is an amazing customer that comes into my day job named Elise D’hane. Professor D, as her students call her, has helped me tremendously the past year, and one of the most amazing things she has done for me is asking me to teach her class of screenwriting students. She wanted me to talk about the work I do at ICB, and to help motivate these creative writers to sustain themselves while in college and after. I want to tell you guys how it went–such a great experience!
I was so nervous when the day started. I met Elise early in morning and we went over what I would talk to the class about. She wanted me to talk about the three ways that creatives in college could get a job. The three ways I chose were freelancing, blogging, and internships. I talked about how freelance writers could find sites like Elance and write for small businesses, that writers could start a blog and become “blog famous,” and how they could find an internship on places like internships.com. Elise loved the idea, so I worked on writing my notes until the class started.
When I went into the class, I was pleasantly surprised that the students had written articles about Tasha and I’s blog posts. They were so excited to talk to me. I felt like a celebrity. Their essays talked about how blogs could make money, how I wrote in such a conversational tone and SEO. I started out talking to them about how to manage time while in college; don’t drink as much, keep a schedule, and ask for help when you need it. They then took control over the discussion, which I loved.
I completely ditched my notes and we started talking about all sorts of fun copywriting things, and they were really excited about the possibility of making money as a writer. Their biggest question was how I managed my time, and when I told them how busy my schedule was, and gave them a look of my agenda, I think it set them aback.
I’m not complaining. I love that my schedule is so busy, but it’s a huge accomplishment that I have been able to maintain a full-time job, an internship and a full-time school schedule, while still applying for graduate school. I think that a lot of the students thought it would be easy to become an intern or a freelancer, but it’s not. It’s a lot of planning ahead and being one step ahead of everything. It takes dedication and effort to become a self-sustaining writer, or any excelling member of a profession. I am just an example of the hard work that is mandatory for young people these days.
No longer can young people rely on getting a job after college. Sometimes, it requires many hats at once (similar to being a business owner) in order to survive. It’s these hats that allow creatives to market themselves as a total package, not just a writer but a copywriter, editor and SEO specialist with real world experience. I commend those students who heed my advice, and as for the rest of them, continue to read my posts on how to make it through college. It’s not easy, but I can help.
If you have questions or suggestions on what I should cover, leave a comment! What was it like when you were in college? Do you see any changes with the new generation of students as opposed to your journey?
