That’s right, I write

The other day at work I was getting really jazzed about a blog post I was writing (you know, that overwhelming excitement where you want everyone to know what you are working on and how awesome it’s going to be) when it hit me – I am doing what I’ve always wanted for a living. My full time job is to write.

To be fair, it took me three months to come to this realization for a few reasons. The first is that when I was in college I imagined myself working for a publication as a bona fide journalist or as an environmental writer. After a year in the magazine industry following college, I was offered an amazing opportunity to branch out and work for a startup. Even after I accepted the position in the marketing department as a “fellow,” I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into (and they didn’t really know what they were getting either).

A couple months later and I run the editorial calendar (I love those words too much. It makes me happy just to write them. Writing and organization are my true loves.) and copywriting day in and day out. I’ve gotten to work on video scripts, have a say on logo designs for user goodies like tote bags, and so much more than I ever imaged.

When I first took the job I was worried I would have to set aside my creativity and work for The Man (even if The Man is a small startup working towards something I believe in, education). Just the word “marketing” alone was enough to keep me up at night. But I’ve grown to love learning new voices and explore a whole different set of readers’ tastes and interests.

Even if this job is not what I set out to do, it’s fulfilling my urge to put words on paper and get people talking, and that’s saying something.