SCAD Career Fair 2016

I must admit, I’ve been obsessing about being the best of the best since I’ve started my dream of attending SCAD. I didn’t really know what I was requesting of myself or the universe when I set out on that particular mission. I also wasn’t aware of how much talent and brilliance I’d end up running into during my time at SCAD. If there’s one thing that you must realize quickly, it’s that in order to be the best, you must accept you will learn… FOREVER. There will always be someone who has more. Those who have more are good company to keep. They are good teachers. Don’t covet what they have. LEARN what it takes to get to that level. You have something unique to yourself that no one else can match. No one can give you the exact recipe, but they can inspire you to push yourself. They will inspire you to never give up. Most importantly those people will inspire you to know that you will never know it all. The most brilliant people are endlessly thirsty for knowledge, and they stay curious.

This week was the SCAD Career Fair 2016. I had been focusing on the Career Fair since about Summer of last year. What can I do to stand out? What all do I need to prepare? What all do I need to bring to the table. As an INTJ female, I already realize that I’m in the 1%, but who else knows that? The good things about INTJs are that they are absolutely meticulous. The bad thing about INTJs are that they are meticulous. I’m the type of person that works, and works, and works to make something perfect before I unveil it. I want nothing but the best to go out there. What have I found by doing that? Once your work is out there, it can be improved upon. That’s okay. The more you learn the better you can be. Your identity and work is a living breathing thing that will always be changing.

You know what hasn’t changed? My list of unicorn companies. Not only do I want to be the best, but I want to work with the best. I want to design and create things that change the world. I want to create for generations after me when I’m nothing but the burning embers of the universe. I want to learn forever, discover forever, innovate forever. I want to be apart of a creative team of minds that collaborate, and the atmosphere buzzes with the energy of our ideas collaborating. I want to be able to laugh together. To swear together. To triumph together. I want a creative team that we can rally around each other, and break boundaries. I’m just not made for some boring place that pays the bills. I want it to mean something. To be something.

When I looked at my list of unicorn companies I immediately got butterflies in my stomach. Didn’t I want other options? No. The list was short. The list was the best in my eyes. The list was of people who have influenced my life, and somehow ingrained themselves within my identity. They probably don’t even know who I am! So there I was. I’m feeling fear. I could freeze, move, or get out of the way. For every fear, I took a step forward. I made a site. Step forward. I printed expensive business cards. Step forward. I crafted my resume. Step forward. There’s something I learned with this. People who step forward are the ones who make it. Everyone is scared, but not everyone pushes through it.

I woke up the morning of the career fair. Fear told me “What makes you think you’re even worthy of shaking hands with these companies?” I stepped toward my fear and said, “Because not everyone is going to be brave enough to walk out their door today to try.” My fear spoke again, “What makes you think that you’re even good enough to show your work?” I stepped toward my fear again, “Because I tried, and not everyone tried. Because I’m willing to make it better, and I’m willing to learn.” I walked out the door with my promotional envelopes. I was told by my career adviser that most wouldn’t want them, but that didn’t stop me. You know what I did find? Most DID want them. Most at the least APPEARED to be delighted by them.  Even if they got left behind at that moment they made an impression, and I hoped that impression stuck to them like glue.

By the end of the fair, I walked out this a smile. I exhaled, and I took in the largest fresh breath of air I could. I stood toe to toe with my fears, and I shook hands with my unicorn company. I was probably one of two people that walked in with a PC lap top and a kindle fire, but I DID IT. Suddenly, I realized my hands were trembling from my day. The adrenaline of free falling was wearing off.  Now we play the waiting game.