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“Not much,” I said, feeling a little silly for calling at all. “I just called to chat. It was nice to see you at the wedding.”
“Yeah! I missed you,” said Annie. “What are you working on nowadays? Any plans for the summer?”
I hesitated. Should I tell her about my problem with finding a job? Maybe she could help, somehow, even though she didn’t live in the area. It was worth a try, at least.
“I’m having trouble finding a job,” I said. “It’s harder than I expected. I guess all the Beasley grads were my competition, and now it’s too late.”
“That’s tough,” said Annie. “You’re majoring in marketing, right?”
“Right,” I said. “But I’m not too attached to it anymore. I don’t even know what I want to do, to be honest.”
“Well, that’s a pretty versatile degree. All kinds of organizations need marketing help. Have you looked outside of marketing and PR agencies? Because you could be the marketing expert for a nonprofit, or something like that,” said Annie.
This was exactly what I needed to hear. I immediately thought of Leah Hensley’s animal rescue and wondered if she needed a marketing assistant. Helping to promote the welfare of animals would be a very worthwhile use of my skills.
“That’s a great idea,” I said. “I guess Mom and Dad got me stuck on the idea of doing something prestigious…”
Annie laughed harshly. “Eh, forget what they think. It’s your life. You have to do what you want to do. I mean, you’re a college grad now. You’re an adult. You can do whatever you want to do. You can even abandon marketing altogether and go into another field.”
“Without a degree?”
“Degrees matter less and less the older you get. You’ll see. I bet with all the extracurriculars you’ve done, you have skills that can apply to all kinds of other jobs,” said Annie.
I wished someone had told me all this much earlier. At least someone was telling me now. I was increasingly feeling better and better about my situation. Not only would I avoid getting stuck in a stuffy cubicle job—like Nicole, I thought smugly—I would also be able to do work that actually mattered, if I could a worthwhile nonprofit.
“That’s really good to know,” I said. “Thanks, Annie.”
“Of course! That’s what big sisters are for. Career advice.”
I laughed. “How are things in Pittsburgh?”
“Good,” she said. “Noah and I might adopt a dog soon.”
“That’s exciting,” I said. Our parents hadn’t been keen on pets growing up, so that was an experience we’d both missed out on.
“Yep. We’re getting the dog of our dreams. We’ve been to a few shelters and rescues recently, and it’s hard not to just bring one of the dogs home with us right then and there.”
“I can imagine.”
“And what about you?” asked Annie. “What about Margie?”
“We’re living together now,” I said, feeling like a mature adult suddenly. “Just for the summer, though I hope she decides to stay on past that.”
“If it goes well, then why not?”
“She has one more year to complete at Beasley, so I think she’ll want to,” I said, my heart warming at the very thought.
“That’s good to hear. And how are Mom and Dad? How was graduation?”
I ended up on the phone with Annie for another half hour, telling her all about the mundane details of my life. And she told me the mundane details of her. It was nice to have such a pleasant conversation with her. I could see us getting closer over the years, as the difference in our ages mattered less and less.
When we hung up, I felt a lot better. And I was immensely grateful for the advice she’d given me. Bolstered by her encouragement, I opened my laptop again, looking for jobs in fields I hadn’t considered before, especially nonprofits. I liked the idea of spending forty hours a week actually doing some good in the world.
I stumbled upon one that looked interesting, which was located right here in Rosebridge. It was called Human Nature and it basically helped schoolchildren learn more about nature and conservation. I explored their website and liked what I saw.
They were looking for a part-time marketing assistant to help more families in the area learn about their programs. It also seemed like they wanted to expand beyond the Rosebridge area and start growing the scope of their organization.
I decided to apply—why not? I liked the organization’s mission. Even though it was part-time, that was fine. I could look for other part-time gigs. If anything, it was definitely worth applying.
