When I went to college I thought I had my whole life figured out. I knew I wanted to study computer science and thought I would take the world by storm with my coding abilities. What I didn’t realize as a 17 year old freshman was the world was going change and, so would I. I have always had a variety of interests, from pageants to remodeling and everything in between – computer science was just one career path that spoke to me. As time progressed at college I gained more coding experience, but I also added minors in mathematics and graphic design. It wasn’t until my senior year of college I had the revelation that coding was only one aspect of what I wanted to do with my life. I want to work with small business, helping them brand and market themselves. I have an engineer’s mindset. I love to take things apart and understand what makes them work. For a company to be successful, they need an identifiable brand and marketing that brings their target audience to them. In May of 2021 I walked across the stage at High Point University and became a college graduate. I had a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science and a vision for what my future held. I wanted to create logos, brand guidelines, websites, and marketing plans for small businesses. The question now was, “How do I get there?” I was accepted into the Masters program at HPU for Communication and Business Leadership. This program started immediately in the Summer of 2021, but I needed formal experience in marketing beyond the classroom. Luckily I had a family friend who’s company was looking for a marketing intern. What I learned from my internship is we as human being are capable of anything that we set our minds to. I completed a 40 hour work week and was a full time masters student. Not to mention I finished the semester with a 4.0 and a full time job offer. Growing up as a competitive dancer I was told the phrase, “fake it until you make it”. What I didn’t realize was this phrase applies to life after graduation. We spend four years busting our butts in the classroom hoping we are ready for the real world after we walk across that stage. The truth is, we are not ready until we have the confidence to say, “I don’t know everything, but I want to learn”. Learning does not end when you leave school. In the workforce if you do not know a skill you are expected to learn it and rather quickly I might add. What I am getting at is that when you leave college you won’t know everything and that is okay. I don’t know everything and that is not something that I am scared of, but something I embrace. At 17 years old I thought I had it all figured out. I am now 22 and know where I want to be, but how I will get there is part of the mystery of life. We don’t have to have it all figured out. We just have to have the confidence in ourselves that we can get where we want to be. In May I will walk across the HPU stage one more time before starting the next chapter of my life. I don’t know what this chapter is but I intend to thrive in the world the possibilities.