D is for Defer

Two years ago I quit my marketing job in Pasadena and moved back to Santa Barbara for my ex-boyfriend. Huge leap of faith considering when I graduated college, I landed the job of my dreams. I've wanted to be a writer my whole life. I studied copywriting in college and spent my first year in the business world doing just that. But something was a little off. I thought it was my personal life.

I interviewed for various marketing jobs in Santa Barbara and was offered a couple of positions, but none of them seemed right. My favorite was a job offer that followed the CEO of the company telling me that he would treat me like an asshole, but if I could handle it I would have a great career.

HAHA. Thanks bud... so on board. Right?! Uhhhh. No. 

Then a crazy thing happened. I started looking at hospitality jobs. Not completely random (throughout college I worked in the hospitality industry), I had just never thought of it as a career path. I found a job, no, I found the perfect job.

When I started working at my hotel, I realized what had been missing in my life. I literally started to skip into work every day (yes, slightly embarrassing, but you just can't squash pure joy). Despite my love of writing, working a traditional 8-5 job is not for me... and will never be for me. I can't sit at a computer screen and type for 8 hours on end. That to me is torture.

Major career/life change right? I think my parents probably thought I was crazy. I mean up until this point I had my life mapped out, what classes I would take in high school to get me into the right college. What classes I would take in college to get into the Writing Minor at UCSB, what internships and clubs and connections I needed to get the right job out of college. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. I told my parents I was going to work at the hotel while I studied for the GMAT, so I could go back to school to get my MBA. Make them proud, you know?

One year passes in Santa Barbara. I take the GMAT. Six months later I apply to schools. I get in to all of them. That was this past April. Fast forward three months. I choose Pepperdine. I want to stay in hospitality-- so why leave my job when I can keep working, keep getting experience and earn an MBA all at the same time? Hmmm?

Fast forward two months. I break up with my boyfriend. I get promoted. I reevaluate... I defer...

TO BE CONTINUED....

Jildo