Uncertain Future (for me, not you)
Posted on 2008-Jul-7 at 12:33
As I inch closer towards graduation and a career in advertising, I often wonder if I’m heading in the right direction. I always here what traits successful ad greats have had in the past, a zeal for life, a passion for learning and discovering new things, the constant pursuit to be an expert on everything. They have a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity about life. They have multiple hobbies and interests. So I think to myself, as I sip from a room temperature mug of mildly burnt coffee, what do I have to offer this great world? Just two days ago I met a friend of a friend and feeling the awkward pause in what was an already awkward conversation, I was asked, “Do you have any hobbies?” I thought about it a second and not wanting to strain myself too bad I just responded, “Well, school takes up most of my time.” And it does. But I thought about it, do I have any hobbies? Where’s my zeal for life? What am I interested in? Being the spokesperson for ADD, my interests change every two minutes. One day I’m engrossed in pirates and pirate culture, their flags, their weapons, their histories and then the next day I am into darts. Cricket anyone? I like watching Jeopardy (for now) and lifting weights. Last month I was into antiquing and colonial America. Maybe next month I’ll be into fishing and the Ottoman Empire. And, unlike most ad students, I don’t live, breathe, and sleep advertising. What I really would like to do is dip in and dip out. You know, win a couple of awards, make some killer campaigns that will influence pop culture, and go down in history. But I also want to write a screenplay, write a book, and publish the children's’ books and poems I’ve already written. I would like to see my product line (of a “top secret” product I’m developing now) in stores everywhere. I want to be a philanthropist and give something those who have nothing. I don’t want to wake up one morning when I’m forty and have to spend my Saturday trying to figure out how I can promote the new and improved super deluxe and mildly scented two-ply toilet paper that now comes with a circular stitching as opposed to its inferior predecessor, the one with cross hatch stitching. I’m not an expert on everything. I spend two hours a day sitting in traffic. I spent the first 5 years out of high school much like the four in high school, drunk and high on whatever was being passed around. I’ve since cleaned up my act, and wanting a “real” job, I thought advertising would be a good fit. I enjoy writing. I love being artistic and learning about design. I like using my sense of humor because there’s no better feeling than making someone laugh. (Amazing how a sentence about making people laugh can also make them puke). But here I am, in school, borrowing over a $130,000 from the bank to get my 1st degree. And this week our teacher gave us our new assignment, Zoloft. Because it’s for school, I do it without objection. But if I were at an agency and this landed on my desk, I don’t know if I can do it. If I wanted to sell drugs I would have stayed on the corner, selling drugs, and never have attended college. I’m neurotic. I’m paranoid. I’m a pecimistic optimist feeling doubtfully hopeful about a skeptically promising future. I’m excited to be this close to landing a gig in the advertising world and terrified the long hours and my own competitiveness will enslave me there. My only hope is that when I’m forty, I’ll have Saturday off because some eager intern will jump at the opportunity to concept new ideas about toilet paper. I love advertising, but not as much as I love my wife. I don’t want to dedicate my life to advertising, I just want a job in it. So where do I go? A big agency? A small agency? Maybe some type of in house work? If you were me where would you work?

This adblog has been read times