I always had a tough time as a journalism and political science major; to me, in a lot of ways the fields are completely opposed. Personally, I decided I needed to make a choice.
I learned that lesson when I applied to work at a newspaper two years ago. They told me in the summer they wanted to hire me, but that meant I had to give up an internship with a politician in the fall. I loved working at the paper and that made my decision for me.
But it was hard to choose. I grew up in a very political household, but you can't really tell people you're an impartial journalist when you've interned for Obama or McCain. So I turned to journalism in my job search, but obviously that's been a shrinking field since before the recession hit.
By early April, after countless applications and follow-up phone calls led me on a career bridge to nowhere, I accepted my fate: my first jobless summer since high school. Luckily, three weeks before graduation, I received a call back from a PR agency. I have a six-month internship in the manufacturing and technology practice.
Of course, as a former student journalist who is now working in PR, a lot of my print peers resent that I made the switch and "sold out." I just can't win!
NEXT: Jared Garfield - Started a business
