I am someone who hates complacency, but I didn\u2019t learn this about myself until I transferred to Harding from Freed-Hardeman in the fall of 2014, which was the first time I truly got away from home.<\/p>\n
When I was at Freed, I thought I was going to be a history teacher who maybe coached soccer and would probably end up settling down in the same town I grew up in. Doing that isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing, I just knew it wasn\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n
When I graduated from Harding with my degree in journalism last May, I had dreams of being a sports writer or a columnist for big newspapers and publications in big cities like New York, D.C. or Chicago. I was working on making that a reality, too \u2014 saving up money and sending out hundreds of resumes and cover letters to the smaller newspapers in those cities. But I also applied to jobs closer to home or in smaller locations as well.<\/p>\n
One of those jobs offered me a position, and my mindset immediately went back to the one I had while I was at Freed.<\/p>\n
I thought I had to take the first job offered to me, because it could take weeks, months and maybe even years for me to get another offer, so I accepted the position as a sports information assistant at a small private university in Alabama.<\/p>\n
I figured that since it was a job centered around sports \u2014 which is what I have always wanted \u2014 I could make it work and be happy, but I was wrong. I wasn\u2019t happy, because had I settled and didn\u2019t take the time to truly work for what I wanted.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, I didn\u2019t last very long at that job. I am now working my second full-time position as a sports writer for a local paper just south of Nashville in less than a year after graduation, and I couldn\u2019t be happier. This is the job I wish I had been patient for and waited on instead of jumping to the first opportunity given to me without thinking about how it would affect me.<\/p>\n
If there is one thing I have learned after graduation about finding a job and loving it when you get one, it\u2019s that you shouldn\u2019t settle, and be patient.<\/p>\n
I am terrible at staying in one place for too long. Luckily, being a sports writer doesn\u2019t require me to do that. It can take me anywhere in the world. There will always be a need for them and there will always be room to grow and possibly work my way up to one of those cities I dreamed about when I first transferred to Harding.<\/p>\n
Be patient, weigh your options, and don\u2019t settle for anything less than a job you know will help you reach your dreams and goals.<\/p>\n
Written by guest writer Taylor Hodges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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