But I want Samantha Brown's job!

Attention current college kids: graduating summa cum laude does not guarantee you a job straight after college. So enjoy college life, because you'll have the same diploma as that kid snoring in the back row, or even that kid who only shows up for the midterm and the final.

Not that I regret it or anything.

So, I'm starting on the post-college job hunt, and I think I have an idea of what I want to do. Yes, I still want to be a reporter. But at the same time, I don't want to end up in a podunk in the middle of nowhere reporting on cat fashion shows (see Anchorman). I love the news industry and want to work in it, but breaking in is tough.

Yeah, I know I've only been on the job search for the past two weeks and I can't expect a "real" job by tomorrow, but it's so tough finding a job that will start you off for the rest of your life. That sounds so serious. Almost too serious. For a recent college grad fresh off of a Washington extravaganza, at least.

So I've come to a conclusion. If I can't go after Meredith Vieira's job just yet, I'm going after Samantha Brown's.

Who is she, you ask? She's Travel Channel's main travel reporter. She was the host of "Great Hotels" and "Great Vacation Homes," recently finished "Passport to Europe" and now hosting "Passport to Latin America." All she gets to do throughout the show is smile, talk and TRAVEL! She eats the amazing food, sleeps in amazing hotel rooms, hangs out with amazing locals and tries all these amazing things.

I can smile, talk and travel. And eat, sleep and hang out too.
How did she come across this job anyway? Samantha, will you be passing the torch anytime soon???

Okay, so back to the job search. I sent out applications to networks, mostly in DC and NYC, to be a news assistant for major national networks. I'm trying to get a job through contacts as well, because unfortunately, as with many other industries, it's mostly about who you know, not what you know. (Which, of course, takes me back to my first point about the use of graduating with honors, but I digress.) I haven't sent out any demo tapes yet for a reporter job, but from what I was told up in DC, I need to send about 30 to 40 tapes. Maybe I need to get cracking on that task soon.

As for Samantha's job, the Travel Channel is not taking resumes right now. Trust me, I checked.

Hello, real world...

I graduated. Yay!

It's hard to believe that four years have come and gone. But what an amazing four years it has been!



And yes, those yellow cords mean summa cum laude, baby!!!
So yeah, peace out UNF!!!

If you want to know what's next, don't ask. At least not yet. Let me enjoy my moment for a little bit longer before the "real world" smacks me right on the forehead. Oh joy.

On brides and babies

I'm going to a friend's wedding this Saturday, and I still have to figure out what I'm going to wear.

She's my age and ready to settle down. Well, I'm not.

So many people who I went to high school or college with are either married or just had their first child. I can't even imagine myself doing either at this point in my life.

I'm 21! And so are they!

Yes, I feel a little bit of pressure. My cousins got married young and it's kinda almost expected in Filipino families. But I'm so focused on getting my career jumpstarted, I really could care less right now.

So my friends had their bridal showers and baby showers, and their wedding receptions and first birthdays ... and pictures are up on facebook.

I am happy for them. They found the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with early in life. Well, that's nice.

Subsequently, I'm kinda asking God to hold off on "him." Although "he" would be nice to be with now, not yet. I want my time to be alone - to be able to do things without asking for someone else's permission, without considering someone else's opinion. Allow me to figure out who I am, who I want to be first. It's only then that I can honestly say that I can give myself away completely to someone else, without losing grip of myself in the process.

Sounds selfish.

But if I don't do that now, I won't be able to do that later in life. I'll look back with regrets.

So this Saturday, when my friend is wearing her something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, I'll sit there and be genuinely happy for her. I'll be the one with the red heels on.

Home?

Can someone please FedEx my heart to Jacksonville? I think I left it in DC.

Home is a funny concept. Supposedly it is where your heart is. Right now, I still feel like I'm just visiting Jacksonville, and any day now, I'll be flying back to Washington. Yes, Jacksonville is where my family is, it's where my friends are, it's where my home church is.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be in Jacksonville. Back to familiar roads, familiar people and familiar activities. I get to drive my car and the beach is just a 20-minute drive from my front door.



But as I write this blog in my room, I am reminded of how much I miss being among the hustle and bustle of the journalist's life. I find myself checking National Journal's Daybook and checking the press conferences and committee hearings for tomorrow.

Home is standing in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office for a pen-and-pad session. It's running to the third floor of the Capitol Building to the Senate Studio for Sen. Mitch McConnell's news conference. It's running to the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office building to be at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing as the Attorney General's office is put to trial. It's bypassing the tourist lines with my press badge. It's going back to the studio at 229 1/2 Pennsylvania Avenue and cutting sound bytes and writing up talking points.

Then it's also being back in my Arlington apartment, with an awesome roommate, friends just down the hall or just two floors down, the Chinese takeout place just across the street, the mall just two blocks away, and the rest of the city a $2 train ride from the Ballston metro station.

Perhaps the only thing I don't miss is riding the metro.



So back to the concept of home, I feel that Jacksonville is a temporary stop. I've always felt that I was meant to do something outside this city, something bigger. I don't know where that is yet, but I'll get there.

Jacksonville maybe my hometown, but it's not where I have to stay.

DCA to ATL to JAX

Flight from Reagan to Hartsfield.
I made it home to Jax. Yay.
More about that tomorrow.


I need to readjust.