Last Day Of Work

My last day of work was yesterday. I'm seriously so sad/in disbelief that it came so quickly. When I started in advertising twenty months ago, I had no clue what I was getting myself into and or how long I would stay for. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, and then I arrived at twenty months and it was already time to leave. While the decision to leave has been my own decision, it came not because I didn't like my job (I actually loved it), but because now feels like the right time to hike the Appalachian Trail and then move to Chicago. I guess I can sum it up as I'm leaving something awesome in search of something a little more awesomer. It still sucks though.

Yesterday was actually the day after my office's work party, so everyone was moving pretty slowly about the office/recalling what actually happened the night before haha, but it was pretty much business as usual, drinks with coworkers, then a bunch of goodbyes.

The lessons I've learned during my first world in the real world are numerous, but I figured while I'm writing this post, I should jot some things I'd like to remember...

01. Life is never to short for pleasantries. 
This is something my boss often repeated and it's so true. Simple pleasantries do go such a long way.

02. Success is more than just being smart and hardworking. 
People skills also matter. Like probably just as much as the other two things. Maybe more. It seems more than obvious, but it was a hard realization for me to come upon after college.

03. There's something to learn from every co-worker. 
I've had a crazy range of co-workers and work is one of those times when you get thrown together with people you wouldn't necessarily associate with outside of work. That being said, sometimes you just become friends anyways, and if not, there are still so many other things to learn.

04. To-do lists are everything. 
Just putting it out there that I would be nothing without one.

05. No one is going to read your mind. Ever. Speak up. 
It took me more than half a year to figure this out, but once I did, things seemed to get a lot better. Still working on this though.

06. One of the best ways to learn is to be thrown into the fire. 
Last summer, two of my co-workers left within a three week period. Work had to get done, but it was just me and an intern. The blind leading the blind, if you will. It was scary being left with everything, but we figured stuff out, made things happen, and I probably learned just as much over last July and August as I had the previous half year of work.

Thank you BBDO for my first twenty months in the real world. 

I hope to be back someday. (Maybe even in Chicago!)