Understanding the Hustle

Before I arrived in New York, I found out that after many rounds of interviews I was not selected for an internship position that I had been excited about. Obviously, rejection is never an ideal outcome but I decided to use it as a learning experience… turn you L’s into lessons, if you will. During the trip, I had the opportunity to get coffee with the lead designer from the company and I learned an invaluable lesson from our meeting. She emphasized that my work ethic and hustle was what had absolutely differentiated me throughout their process. My willingness to reach out, ask questions, do the research and the work had ultimately set me apart from other candidates that had more technical skills and experience. From the beginning, I knew that this opportunity was a long shot as I would be competing with candidates that had been in the industry for years along with students from competitive portfolio schools. With that said, this gave me a new understanding of what hustle means and how I can use it to my advantage. I learned that the hustle should never stop because someone says no. It is crucial to continue to build relationships and learn from all experiences—regardless if the result was a yes or no.

Takeaway #2: Get after it and hustle!!

-Emma McBride// Junior Art Director