My Renaissance
My Renaissance
My renaissance with this course begins with a personal renaissance, approximately two years ago, when I decided to go back to school for marketing after an almost 7-year gap. A wise professor once mentioned, the worst thing that can happen to you straight out of high school, is to get a well-paying job. It really is so true, but I wouldn’t change my series of events in any way. I feel that although I was mature for my age, any school decision I would have made at the time wouldn’t have lasted. In fact, there’s an embarrassing amount of credits that I failed because I couldn’t balance work and school, and was unsure of the direction I wanted to go. The outsourcing of my most recent job, after my previous one had also resulted in furlough, gave me the time away from work I needed to make a pivotal change. Looking back on how easily I could be replaced by lower wage overseas labor was enlightening. Realizing how much I really disliked my job and felt like it was draining my creativity and neglecting my abilities was something I pushed down for so long I had convinced myself I liked it and it was worth it.
Replacement
Being in an entry-level job, even if you are paid well or perform well, puts you so close to the bottom of the ladder that you’re the most likely to fall off. Your position could be easily replaced by less expensive labor, computers and automated systems, or even a combination of both which allows the inexpensive labor to easily interface with a new computer system, that more skilled labor was previously needed for. I have witnessed all of the above. Especially the outsourcing of a job and the replacement of a workforce with a new system that the previously complicated one required specialists to run. This observation has motivated me to not only distance myself from the bottom rung of the employment ladder, but to also develop a skill set and academic resume that gives me an advantage over other employees.
Competitive Advantage
The idea of being able to adapt my skill set to the ever changing workplace environment is now completely obvious to me, thanks to this course. When I began the journey two years ago to earn my Applied Associates in Marketing Management, I chose to get an Applied Associate, as opposed to an Associate that transfers to a four-year program, because I couldn’t envision myself following through for four years. I was intimidated by my previous failure and decided not to set my sights too high. Something happened in the middle of this semester though. The same insightful professor I previously mentioned also said, a four-year degree will only get you about ten years before you are ready to promote above where it will take you. Everything I had been learning in this class corroborated that idea. On top of that, I had been observing over the past two years that, with few exceptions, for someone to believe you’re smart you have to earn several degrees to prove it. And, to be able to run with the pack, you must look and smell like one of the pack. It all comes down to education imparting credibility. It was something I was previously resistant to believing, but in my final semester of my AAS in Marketing Management a lightbulb turned on and I pivoted again to set my sights on earning a Master of Strategic Communication. Prior to this revelation, if someone asked me what I was going to do after I finished the AAS I had zero idea. It was like the part of my brain I was trying to access for the answer was blank. I think it was because I didn’t see getting a bachelor’s degree as an answer to what was next, but as soon as I discovered the MSC program I knew that was the direction I wanted to go and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration was just the requirement in between. Removing the obstacle of educational achievements from my future employment aspirations enables me to focus on developing my experience and a skill set that truly gives me a competitive advantage over others.
Consumption
Something I never want to go back to is hating my job, it’s emotionally draining. Thinking about being in the same draining and emotionally fatiguing place in 10, 20, 30 years is paralyzing. I do want to mention though, that the stress of not having enough money is equally consuming. In order to eliminate these stressors, one needs to take great care in developing themselves into someone who can get a job they want to do and that pays well, and they are out there, but most of us are holding ourselves back. Sure, our lack of skill set gets in the way, or our ability to pay for school, or time to go to school and develop skills, but if it’s something we want to do and have vision to do, it’s possible. Even though I’ve decided to continue to a four-year school and will need to complete more classes at SLCC after graduating with my AAS in Marketing in order to earn an AS in business that transfers, I wouldn’t change anything. I still feel that I wouldn’t have been successful in returning to school if I had started with general classes that I wasn’t passionate about. Just like in the workplace, taking classes you don’t connect with wears on you. Starting with the AAS in Marketing has given me the qualifications to start a job as a Marketing Specialist with an awesome company. Had I done it the other way around I would still be two more years away, and in debt, from getting a marketing job I actually want to do, in an area that gives me more experience in the field, and that pays well. Knowing that I have put myself on a trajectory to earn well and be happy with my job is relieving and makes me feel empowered to continue achieving things that keep me on that path.
My personal renaissance can be summarized as enlightenment. That doesn’t seem very insightful because that is literally what a renaissance is, but my continued illumination throughout life and throughout this course has culminated to alter my life trajectory, and I feel excited and motivated to continue to better myself emotionally, cerebrally, and in society.
My renaissance with this course begins with a personal renaissance, approximately two years ago, when I decided to go back to school for marketing after an almost 7-year gap. A wise professor once mentioned, the worst thing that can happen to you straight out of high school, is to get a well-paying job. It really is so true, but I wouldn’t change my series of events in any way. I feel that although I was mature for my age, any school decision I would have made at the time wouldn’t have lasted. In fact, there’s an embarrassing amount of credits that I failed because I couldn’t balance work and school, and was unsure of the direction I wanted to go. The outsourcing of my most recent job, after my previous one had also resulted in furlough, gave me the time away from work I needed to make a pivotal change. Looking back on how easily I could be replaced by lower wage overseas labor was enlightening. Realizing how much I really disliked my job and felt like it was draining my creativity and neglecting my abilities was something I pushed down for so long I had convinced myself I liked it and it was worth it.
Replacement
Being in an entry-level job, even if you are paid well or perform well, puts you so close to the bottom of the ladder that you’re the most likely to fall off. Your position could be easily replaced by less expensive labor, computers and automated systems, or even a combination of both which allows the inexpensive labor to easily interface with a new computer system, that more skilled labor was previously needed for. I have witnessed all of the above. Especially the outsourcing of a job and the replacement of a workforce with a new system that the previously complicated one required specialists to run. This observation has motivated me to not only distance myself from the bottom rung of the employment ladder, but to also develop a skill set and academic resume that gives me an advantage over other employees.
Competitive Advantage
The idea of being able to adapt my skill set to the ever changing workplace environment is now completely obvious to me, thanks to this course. When I began the journey two years ago to earn my Applied Associates in Marketing Management, I chose to get an Applied Associate, as opposed to an Associate that transfers to a four-year program, because I couldn’t envision myself following through for four years. I was intimidated by my previous failure and decided not to set my sights too high. Something happened in the middle of this semester though. The same insightful professor I previously mentioned also said, a four-year degree will only get you about ten years before you are ready to promote above where it will take you. Everything I had been learning in this class corroborated that idea. On top of that, I had been observing over the past two years that, with few exceptions, for someone to believe you’re smart you have to earn several degrees to prove it. And, to be able to run with the pack, you must look and smell like one of the pack. It all comes down to education imparting credibility. It was something I was previously resistant to believing, but in my final semester of my AAS in Marketing Management a lightbulb turned on and I pivoted again to set my sights on earning a Master of Strategic Communication. Prior to this revelation, if someone asked me what I was going to do after I finished the AAS I had zero idea. It was like the part of my brain I was trying to access for the answer was blank. I think it was because I didn’t see getting a bachelor’s degree as an answer to what was next, but as soon as I discovered the MSC program I knew that was the direction I wanted to go and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration was just the requirement in between. Removing the obstacle of educational achievements from my future employment aspirations enables me to focus on developing my experience and a skill set that truly gives me a competitive advantage over others.
Consumption
Something I never want to go back to is hating my job, it’s emotionally draining. Thinking about being in the same draining and emotionally fatiguing place in 10, 20, 30 years is paralyzing. I do want to mention though, that the stress of not having enough money is equally consuming. In order to eliminate these stressors, one needs to take great care in developing themselves into someone who can get a job they want to do and that pays well, and they are out there, but most of us are holding ourselves back. Sure, our lack of skill set gets in the way, or our ability to pay for school, or time to go to school and develop skills, but if it’s something we want to do and have vision to do, it’s possible. Even though I’ve decided to continue to a four-year school and will need to complete more classes at SLCC after graduating with my AAS in Marketing in order to earn an AS in business that transfers, I wouldn’t change anything. I still feel that I wouldn’t have been successful in returning to school if I had started with general classes that I wasn’t passionate about. Just like in the workplace, taking classes you don’t connect with wears on you. Starting with the AAS in Marketing has given me the qualifications to start a job as a Marketing Specialist with an awesome company. Had I done it the other way around I would still be two more years away, and in debt, from getting a marketing job I actually want to do, in an area that gives me more experience in the field, and that pays well. Knowing that I have put myself on a trajectory to earn well and be happy with my job is relieving and makes me feel empowered to continue achieving things that keep me on that path.
My personal renaissance can be summarized as enlightenment. That doesn’t seem very insightful because that is literally what a renaissance is, but my continued illumination throughout life and throughout this course has culminated to alter my life trajectory, and I feel excited and motivated to continue to better myself emotionally, cerebrally, and in society.