<—See that girl? That’s what I’m going to look like a few weeks from now. Graduation; the day I’ve been dreading for the past four years is less than a month away. To some people, graduation may seem like an exciting time and something they’ve worked their whole life towards. While this is all true, graduation also means leaving behind my comfort zone, friends who have become like family to me and a place that has become my home. Sure, it’s going to be great to have a job, my own income and not have to rely on my parents for everything. But hey, it also means having to be a real person and worry about things I don’t have to worry about on a day to day basis at the present moment. I hate knowing I’ll never have another summer of doing absolutely nothing, I’ll never be able to just decide I need a personal day and flee to the beach, I’ll never be able to sit on Liacouras Walk at 1:00pm on a Tuesday and people watch. Now is the time I have to leave any immaturity behind and move forward.

I think my internship has really given me a good grasp of what to expect of the real world. And believe it or not, it’s not as scary as I once saw it to be. The people are friendly, and the day doesn’t drag on nearly as long as I expected it to. When I first started at Philly Mag, a 9-5 day seemed nearly impossible, but honestly if you are doing something you like and keeping busy, it truly does fly by.

Besides giving me a good grasp on life, it has given me a grasp on my own life and my future career. I’ve sat in class for the past four years hearing most of my classmates talk about how they dream of one day working for an advertising agency. Honestly, although it seems like it would be cool to work in a big ad agency, it is just not what I ever saw myself doing. Interning at a magazine has allowed me to see that this is what I want to be doing. I love advertising and I love the drive of sales so put it together and you have advertising sales, magazines in particular.  I love the idea of being passionate about the company you work for and showing companies why they should be selling themselves or their product in your magazine.

I think coming out of this experience knowing that I’ve found what I want to do with my life is more than I could’ve ever imagined to gain from my internship.  I’ve definitely learned a lot from my experience at Philly Mag and feel confident that although I’m not emotionally ready to leave behind what I know at Temple, I am definitely prepared for the real world.

-Christie Porter

ChristieLynnPorter@gmail.com