Thanks to watching Lynette Scavo in action during all eight seasons of Desperate Housewives, I graduated high school with the sense that advertising was the career path for me. Although this show was influential in so many more ways than pointing me in the direction of my career (hello, now I know to never trust my neighbors completely), it did not fully describe all the many different aspects that pertain to advertising. Thus, I entered college and began asking questions. Despite gaining amazing advice, connections, friendships and opportunities from asking questions inside the SOJC, I wasn’t satisfied with the answers. I felt like there was still so much I didn’t know. So I kept asking. And what I found was that there are no right answers. The questions will never stop because the world never stops and thus, curiosity should never stop. To a girl who loves crossing things off of a list, the thought of this endless chase seemed daunting until I realized one solution to will help me along: experience.

Each day I step into Allen Hall, I leave with a little more knowledge. Just being in the right place, observing, talking, listening and absorbing helps me to feel more confident in my own abilities in this career. This confidence has led to taking risks, like applying to Allen Hall Advertising and the New York Trip, which has led to even more confidence and the spiral continues. Thus, the experience of being able to walk the streets of New York City amongst the local morning commuters, walk into the offices of major agencies, observe the cultures of these agencies, listen to their presentations of their campaign work, cheer classmates on as they pitch to these agencies, receive feedback from real-life, employed advertisers, discuss hiring tips with recruiters themselves and toy with the idea of moving to a mecca like Manhattan is unlike anything else. This week in the city is providing me the opportunity to “play house” with the thought of making the giant move from Eugene to NYC; an idea I never gave much thought too because I didn’t think I could do it. It’s like I’m getting the opportunity to peek into what my life could be like in 5 years, as if someone is helping me make the right decision.

Undoubtedly, I will leave New York on Friday with a whole new set of questions, but the amount of answers I received about the industry and myself is unparalleled. Although the questions may never end in this field, one thing is for certain: Experience leads to better questions and better questions lead to unbelievable answers.

Meg Meagher