Dear Diary,

This past week I had the opportunity to sink my teeth into a little bit more substantial PR work. They put me up on a ladder and I helped to paint “Idea Peep Show” across the top of our windows that face the street, in preparation for the Fast Horse summer party. I think it’s safe to say that it’s the most “interny” task I’ve ever had, but it was nice to spend a few hours outside before the lightning started and I had to climb down.

I’m also tackling my very first press release, researching some future projects and helping with a few proposals, one that includes video that I helped shoot. Something about this job is a lot more intellectually stimulating than other internships I’ve had. Perhaps it’s the challenge of learning a new field, or the hands-on experience I get because we’re such a small agency. It’s refreshing to be taken seriously as a young person, recent graduate and entry level employee. It’s something I’d been taught not to expect.

But then again, we’re taught to expect a lot of things that aren’t true about life after college. It’s been reinforced over the years that a student will either get a business (or similarly utilitarian) degree or go to graduate school. While I was in school, I was conflicted between a more professional-track degree program and a more abstract, general liberal arts path. A college degree would be a horrible thing to waste, so when I chose to change my major from professional journalism to gender, women and sexuality studies, I got more than few “really?” looks.

New acquaintances and family members would ask what I would get my next degree in. Many of my peers from my major program were on a law school track. A checkout guy at Trader Joes grilled me about how I might use such a degree, how I saw something so strange applying to any sort of career.

Well, ironically enough, judgmental cashier, I plan on using my sharp intellect, ability to craft a nice sentence and zeal for new information to do whatever I feel like doing. And right now I feel like writing a press release about planting trees in state parks, and after that I might dabble in a short editorial calendar for a newsletter or maybe edit some video footage.  And who says I can’t use my extensive knowledge of post-modernist queer theory to complete those tasks?