Sunday, July 24, 2005

You mean I need a job?

Three weeks left in my internship and no job. That's where I find myself.
Although, to be honest, I haven't been trying very hard to find one. OK, hardly trying at all. I don't really know what's stopping me. For instance, why am I wasting my time writing this instead of searching journalismjobs.com or putting together some clips?
I think I just am really unsure about what I want to do. Or I know what I want to do and it doesn't look possible.
My goal always has been to be a medical or health writer, not necessarily for a newspaper, but for a magazine or journal, or better yet, for a medical organization that works to find a cure for AIDS or cancer. I didn't study structures of compounds or the bones of the body for nothing in school, and I really want to have a career that helps others in some way. Sometimes I feel like journalism is selfish. I write a story and I doubt anyone will really care about it, except for me, when my byline appears by it the next day.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a strong believer in the importance of the newspaper to its community. It's the watchdog, the record-keeper, the informer and entertainer. I'm just not sure that working for a daily paper is something I want to do for the rest of my life.
So that brings me back to my job search, or lack thereof. Do I apply for the entry-level reporting positions posted all over the Internet, that I know I have a decent chance of getting? A job is a job, isn't it? And it doesn't have to be forever.
But then again, I'm scared of getting stuck. Once I get settled in somewhere, I know it would be hard to leave. Happiness is really most important to me, even if it means being without income for a bit. So maybe there's no better time than now to find a job I'm really excited about, while my parents are still willing to foot the bill for room and board.

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