There seems to be no real way to start my first column as PLAY editor, other than I never really thought this would be my job one day. I started out like everyone else my freshman year. The idea of talking to bands and then writing about it sounded pretty appealing to me, so I signed up. My first story ended up being a small profile piece on a band called Gomez. Sounds simple enough, right? In reality, the music editor at the time had actually called me to persuade me to take the story 45 minutes before the interview was supposed to take place. Oh, and I had never heard of the band before either.
Just picture a frantic 18-year-old version of myself quickly doing research on Gomez, listening to their music and reading bios online, only to be told by their drummer a while later to take a deep breath and relax because it probably sounded like I was hyperventilating over the phone. Not exactly the most ideal way to start my college writing career.
But I stuck with PLAY, and it looks like it’s really worked in my favor. I went from being a writer to an editor to an assistant editor, and now I’m in charge. I still think it’s strange, but mainly because I see it as meaning only one thing: I’m a senior, and therefore, old. Yes, at the age of 21, I have labeled myself old. You would, too, with all these fresh faces running around campus.
But I digress. Being a senior means having to face the fact that the real world is looming right around the corner. No more school, no more tests and no more ten-page final papers (which, in reality, does sound pretty awesome) but it also means that the run for finding a decent 9-5 is about begin.
It’s true that the past three years here at NU have taught me some semblance of independence and I am now somewhat capable of looking after myself. That doesn’t mean that I consider myself an adult yet and for good reason; I still call my mom to freak out about every little thing. So you’ll have to forgive me if I proceed to flail whenever someone brings up the dreaded post-college career plan topic.
I’m sure many of you felt unprepared to come to college. I know I did. Now I feel completely unprepared to leave it. All you can really do is let your first quarter happen and go from there. I’ve still got plenty of time left before my last quarter (and my overall impending graduation), so for now I’ll concentrate on keeping my life somewhat together. For those you both new and old to PLAY, maybe someday you’ll be in my editing shoes. You never know.
As for life after college, I hope I get to do what I’ve been doing for the past few years. I still love magazines, surprisingly enough. And since my music taste has expanded significantly since I started college, I’ll hopefully be writing profiles on bands I actually know about. My fingers are crossed. ?
Medill senior Dani Garcia is the PLAY editor. She can be reached at [email protected].
