Come Alive

OK not in the literal sense of the word, but I no longer have an apartment or home in my name after this evening. I’ve moved into my friend’s living room in Amarillo for the time being until I move out to California and start at RPA on June 25th. 

I kept having all sorts of flashbacks of moments that I had in that apartment. The place I have called home for two years is gone. Well not gone, but gone from me living there. (maybe I’m being a little dramatic in this post)

I can remember moving into my first apartment, the place I called home (or 2x2x2 as some of you may know) and the excitement I had. The freedom that it brought. Then of course about a month later that wore off. I had to clean. I had to pay the bills. I was growing up. 

I guess I can consider this move, this leap another part of growing up - now I just need to find a place to live in Cali… 

As I was waiting in line at Dollar General with my milk and laundry bag (classy, I know) my phone rang with a 310 area code - Santa Monica. I picked up the phone, crawled to the back of the store and was informed that I’ve been offered a social media internship position with Rubin Postaer & Associates (RPA) - whose clients include Honda, Lay-Z-Boy, Farmer’s Insurance and many more. 

I was so excited! Of course I’m going. 

This has been an intense process to say the least. I heard about RPA from my research with NSAC and then from there to Twitter. When I say the posting for summer internships I applied and made it through to the second round after submitting a resume. Second round had several options, I chose to tweet twelve things that reflected myself and my interests. I would take screenshots and use the hashtag “#rpasummerinternship” further limiting my creativity. 

Regardless, I made it to the third round which was a phone screen call. I was very nervous for this one, but forged ahead and came out successful. The final round was a Skype interview in which I chatted with the social media team and was asked just about everything under the sun, from my experience to my own thoughts on social media and where it’s going. 

I’m honored to have been selected as a social media and summer intern for RPA. I now look at Honda cars on the road or see Farmer’s Insurance commercials on TV and think - “Man, really soon I’ll be working for that.” 

It is very bittersweet. My family and friends don’t want to see me move across the country and are worried for my well being. I will be sad as well to leave them. I don’t think it still has all fully hit me, but when it does I will be very torn. Looking forward and a change like this is a hard thing to do, but nonetheless I’m still excited to have a great opportunity and advance using my degree.  

Lining a hallway, finding my place in line, breathing and smiling as I walked into the room. Sitting down. Facing the stage. Reality began to set in. 

It’s official I’m an alum of West Texas A&M University. A Buffalo (Bison) by heart, but no longer in academic practice. It hasn’t hit me yet. The feeling of the finale. Much like watching the season of some great TV show end, I don’t feel like it’s over until the next season starts. Problem is, I don’t know what channel my show will premiere on. 

Those feelings of goodbye, leaving my best friends, and the memories I have while becoming the adult I am today are all still fresh. It’s not over I keep telling myself - when in reality it is. 

I have a job offer lined up that I could potentially take. I’m waiting to hear back on an internship in California. All the while my lease on my apartment ends on May 31st. The clock is ticking. 

I’ve never been one without a plan, but what happens when life throws you into this ‘limbo’ stage? I can’t make any set plans. I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t know what I’m doing because all the cards aren’t on the table. The table hasn’t even been set. I’m in limbo. 

This is not sitting well with my gold self. I often need to remind myself that patience is a virtue - welcome to that adulthood that I just mentioned. I will always value the lessons learned at West Texas A&M University. The people I’ve met and have come close with will still be in my heart. The reality of it all will set in at one point and I can imagine it will flood in like the hoover damn. 

Until then, I wait. Wait for the National Student Advertising Competition Nationals (I forgot to mention we were selected as the wild card team!). Wait for a word back on jobs. Wait to form my plan. 

In an announcement this morning on Good Morning America, Mark Zuckerberg stated that you can now announce that you are an organ donor on Facebook. What does that exactly mean though? 

With the change to the Facebook timeline users are able to update life events and with that, now comes the option to state that you are an organ donor. Once you follow the steps, Facebook directs you to Donate Life America where you are able to register in your own state to be an organ donor. A brilliant social concept. 

This is using media and social media in a beneficial way that can save lives. Something that I have always wanted to see in action. Now, I understand that there are apps like Facebook Causes and such that do good in the realm of social media, but this is much more powerful to me. Right as I myself put this life event on my Facebook, it pushed to my news feed. 

The world of your news feed is crucial for something to remain social and gain movement, and that push within Facebook to become an organ donor is what will make this more than just an app success, but an integral part of potentially saving lives. 

The brilliance of it all? It’s completely measurable. The click throughs and the amount of people who donate and become registered is trackable and using Facebook tools will also allow for an aggregation to begin to see what type of people become organ donors. 

What about the pitfalls? Well there is the fact that you can place the life event on your timeline and not actually be registered within your state. Also, there is the fact that that those who are already registered may not want to state that on their Facebook. We must also not forget those that don’t want to do this at all, or don’t even have a Facebook - yes they do exist. 

In the end though I can see this as becoming a great social movement that combines doing well for others and utilizing a large network like Facebook.