Go Bobcats!

The job hunt that's going nowhere fast has got to stop. Not only am I getting nothing that would further a potential publishing career except for short-term or unpaid gigs, but I can't take any more rejection.

So a few months ago, I applied for two ridiculously highly competitive, highly intensive summer publishing programs - one at Columbia University and one at New York University. Going into it, I knew that about 300 to 400 people apply to each of these programs, and I have since found out that both programs had larger-than-expected applicant pools this year. Thanks, economy. Nonetheless, I was determined that my essay would convince the admissions committee that I deserved to be among the 100 students chosen for each program. Hell - writing is what I do.

Though the similarities between the two programs are endless, I was still hoping for Columbia. Name recognition means a lot, and the Ivy League is where it's at. So even though I was thrilled to find out that I was accepted into NYU's program, there was still a part of me hoping that Columbia would want me too. That part cried when I soon thereafter read my e-mail rejection from the Ivy League, but that only lasted a short while, as I pumped myself up for the program waiting on my at NYU. Go Bobcats!


In reality, both programs are nearly the same. They're each six weeks long, with half the time focused on magazines, and half the time focused on books; both have been around for decades, and both pull the same caliber of people - including editors and CEOs of major publishing corporations and magazines - to teach the workshops or be guest speakers. Plus, NYU told me that unlike Columbia, whose job placement rate after the program is 92 percent, their job placement rate is nearly 100 percent. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! (Now let me say that I fully realize that this 100 percent is very likely inflated, and that these "jobs" could include unpaid internships or jobs that former students got several years down the road. But I'm still hopeful!)

So though I won't have a life from May 31 until July 12 - when I say "intensive" I mean in class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week with workshops and lectures at night between working with my several groups on our group projects - it means I get to drop everything to focus on myself. For the second time in two years - like when I moved across the country to New York in December, 2007 - I'll be completely changing my life to try something new.

I will soon be putting in my letter of resignation at the coffee shop and telling Skyhorse Publishing that while I have learned a lot and appreciate the opportunity, I'm going to work toward gaining experience that will land me a paid job. It's both exciting and terrifying at the same time, but I'm ready for the experience!