Taking you back to 2017. It was a year of a lot of uncertainty, heartbreak, confusion, fear, insecurities, change, and tears. I graduated in May of last year, and I knew at graduation that I was entering a world of the unknown. Unknown of where exactly I would work, where my career would lie, how I would pay my student loans, what life would be like, and what any portion of my future held. I cried every single day.
Thinking back, I was in a constant state of fear. I have the type of personality that needs to have a plan for every portion of my life, and at the time, I had zero plans for where I was headed, and that terrified me. I was watching my friends land their dream jobs, and with each new “I can’t wait to start my full time job” facebook post, and each interview that I didn’t receive a phone call after, more and more discouragement came.
It hadn’t been long since I had graduated, but at the time, it felt like it had been a lifetime.
Less than a month after I had graduated, I was sitting at my favorite local coffee shop, The Blend, sipping on my cup of coffee. I was going through my daily scroll through indeed.com, and came across a job posting for a Web Designer position. I saw which company posted the job, and without thinking for a minute, immediately applied.
The company was Pearl Companies. I had heard about this company on numerous occasions from my grandfather, Dumit, who had passed away just a year and a half prior. My very last conversation I had had with my grandfather before his heart went into cardiac arrest, I remember him bringing up Pearl Companies, and the CEO of the company, Gary. He and Gary were friends, and my grandfather was very fond of him.
My grandfather was known for helping anyone and everyone land jobs whenever they were in need of one. Knowing this, I prayed to my grandfather every single day of my job searching process. I knew that he would help me to find that perfect job.
A couple of weeks after I applied to the job at Pearl, I received a phone call for a phone interview, and shortly after that, my twenty year old self went into an interview with the company. Out of all the interviews I had gone through during that time, the one at Pearl by far just felt so right, so true, and I felt so comfortable speaking with the managers. I left there feeling great, and after a second interview, about a month later, was offered the position.
I remember the feeling that I was overcome with immediately after being offered the job. I was excited, grateful, but also scared, and that same fear came back.
What if it wasn’t where I was supposed to be, what if I was accepting a job too quickly, what if I wasn’t right for the job.
I had a conversation with my dad, and he steered me back into the right direction. He told me I couldn’t let my fears hold me back from going after what I knew in my heart was right.
I had my first day at Pearl on July 10, 2017, just one week after accepting the job, and from the day I started, I immediately knew I was home. Never in my life had I had a job until now, where I genuinely wake up in the morning excited to go to work, and see my coworkers. I love my job. I love what I do. I love my team. We’re so much more than coworkers, we’re a family. A family that works together, laughs together, cares about one another, and creates some pretty amazing things together.
I look back at a year ago, and I can hardly believe I am the same person I was. I have come so far in more ways than I thought were possible. I now get to do both Web/Graphic Design and Photography every day – two things that I majored in during college, and to be able to say that I love what I do every single day is rare. I used to allow fear to at times control me, my decisions, my thoughts, and the unknown. If I had given into fear a year ago, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today, be at the job I’m at today, and work alongside the people that I am so blessed to see daily.
One year later, and I am thanking God immensely. I thank God for bringing me to where I am today. For giving me a father who pushes me in so many ways, including a year ago when he pushed me to go after the unknown and accept the job at Pearl. And I thank God for my grandfather, Dumit, who I know is watching over me every single day, smiling down on me, as I now work for his friend, Gary.
Today I choose to make decisions that I do not know the outcome of. To try new things every single day regardless of what will happen. To not care what others think of me, and to never allow fear to dictate any portion of my life. There are too many opportunities in this world. I’m ready to try them all.
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