Back in July, when I lost my job, I thought, to be quite honest, that I was fucked. Unemployment payouts aren’t much. My salary was supporting my household. And beyond that, as mentioned, I had no idea what I wanted to really DO.
Job searching is hard during any brand of uncertainty. It’s especially hard when you have EVERY type of uncertainty; I didn’t know what position I could fill for an employer, I didn’t know really what industry I could get into besides finance, and most of the organizations I wanted to work for didn’t require the services of a former-accounts-payable-and-receivable clerk.
So, I applied for jobs that, in my head, I had no business applying for. An internship with SCRATCHBread. A director of operations position with CityHarvest. Bookkeeper for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group even though to be quite honest, I don’t know anything about bookkeeping besides adding, subtracting, debits and credits. I applied to be a customer advocate for a group that helps connect farmers to groups wanting CSA’s, and I applied to intern at an organization called FoodFight. I applied to be an office manager for a small creative firm (think Sterling-Cooper, the guys who make up the ads) even though I kind of wanted to scream at the thought of getting office supplies for people who I knew would annoy the pants off me. I had two phone interviews with Blackbaud, in hopes of becoming someone who travels the country teaching people how to use The Raiser’s Edge and Financial Edge… in the end, they went with an internal candidate, which basically crushed my spirit.
I ended up getting an interview with the FoodFight people, so I did some reading up. And then I nailed the interview.
And now, I’m finishing up my first full week of being an intern for FoodFight. It’s a non-profit organization that delivers a broad curriculum covering media literacy, nutrition, environmental issues and activism, in hopes of making today’s high schoolers more educated consumers, and in hopes of stopping the victimization of this generation by the current food system. The program teaches high schoolers how to find their voices, how to advocate for their own health and wellness, and above all, why they should care.
I’m the marketing department.
As I’ve mentioned, my background is in finance. And a little further back, psychology. I do not know shit about how to run a successful marketing campaign, especially when we’re not talking about the social media aspect (another intern is handling that). So, I’m learning. I’m reading a lot, and I’m studying and I’m trying my best to make strides.
In the end, life is still hard. The internship is unpaid, so I’m still collecting unemployment payouts. Which aren’t much. I’m looking for cash work that I can do, to help out. But this work that I’m doing…. I truly BELIEVE in it. When this goes national, and I firmly believe that it will someday, I will have been here from the start. From meeting twice a week in one of the founders’ living rooms. From trying to get any grants and or money we can. And I will have helped it go national.
So far, July 14 is still one of the worse days of my life. Not the absolute worst, no, but it wasn’t great.
But change takes time. And in time, I believe that FoodFight will be able to hire me full-time, and pay me. I believe that learning on my feet and on the ground will mean that I learn about marketing in a good, functional, applicable way. And I believe that I could do this job, well, for years to come.
So, I guess we’ll see.
![theangrytherapist:
nevver:
Anatomy of an Ad Agency [more]
Time to play with your Legos again.
- Angry
Honestly, I chuckled at this until I realized that yes, it’s mostly true. I didn’t have a handgun in my desk drawer, but I did have a tiny bottle of vodka that a client sent to our department, as well as a shot glass, toothbrush, mirror and mini makeup kit (for surprise client meetings)
I hated finance.
Yesterday was Food Day and FoodFight, the non profit I’m currently not-interning-for-if-you’re-the-Department-of-Unemployment, did 2 events. We stood in Times Square from 10-3, talking to people about FoodFight, collecting e-mail addresses for our mailing list, and generally trying to explain to people why food education for high schoolers, and not just food education, but media literacy, educated consumership, and social activism through the lens of food, are not only important, but VITAL to the future of New York City. From 3:30-sometime after 7, oh my god, we were at a high school, where we gave presentations on our curriculum, offered samples of our various sponsors’ products, taught about what cheese is and ISN’T (thanks Ruthie, who works for Lucy’s Whey) and gave demonstrations of healthy breakfast options (news flash: a smoothie only needs a few ingredients to be effing delicious). PLUS, our official chef partner gave a cooking demo or two.
In true intern style, at about 3:30 I was sent on a run to buy 40 bananas, 10 boxes of strawberries, 200 tasting cups, and 200 plastic utensils.
Even with being on my feet all day, running around like a crazy person, talking so much that my voice is hoarse today, and having to carry 40 fucking bananas (BANANAS ARE WEIRD!!!), I am thrilled. I am thrilled that I am doing good work. I am thrilled that after exhausting days, I come home happy, as opposed to when every day was exhausting and I always came home depressed. I am thrilled that my job is making real change, one little bit at a time. I am thrilled that when I had to make a smoothie for a group of high schoolers, and I explained to them that YES, the only things in this smoothie are ice, strawberries, bananas and spinach, and they still liked it, they were EXCITED! They wanted to make smoothies for breakfast!
I am so thrilled to get this chance, to do something that I truly love. And it’s hard. And confusing. And sometimes I wonder how we’re ever going to get media coverage because no matter how many e-mails and press releases and Twitter/Facebook blitzes I send out, I get very little response. But y’know what? I’ll take it. I’ll do it. This is good, valuable, important, enjoyable, tiring, worthwhile work.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltmt2sXgeG1qz6f9yo1_500.jpg)
