Lucky Library Tresaure

Unfortunately, all of us are feeling the strain of this horrible economy.  My dad keeps repeating that, "these are times we've never seen before." I know that his almost-sixty-year-old sage wisdom is hauntingly true.  I can feel the tugs at my very empty purse strings, and still believe that it really might get worse before it gets better.  So, since we are doomed to the doldrums of not being able to pay for anything, I have tried to find ways to entertain myself with anything that is, well, free.  That is how I stumbled upon my adoration for the public library.

I used to love the library as a kid.  I remember the pride I felt the day I was issued my very own library card.  In Sonoma County, where I live, the cards are extra-special-seeming because they have the all important title of being "The Card."  The shiny, light green card holds an importance in knowing that I have the power... to borrow books for free.  

I know, I know...  The library is completely dorky and weird.  Which is totally true.  But it's also seriously fun!  Yes, getting books for free is a great thing - especially in this era.  What's even more fun, however, is the manner in which I check out books.  Since I can't really afford to buy anything new (nor should I since I own practically every thing I could ever want), the hunt of getting new books to check out at the library is like a treasure hunt.  Albeit a weird, nerd treasure hunt.  But still a treasure hunt nonetheless.  I have a new way in which I dig for my next read.  

Sometimes, I like to wander around my local Borders bookstore.  After I've read the hard news from US Weekly, I like the peruse some of my favorite sections.  I saunter into the cooking section to see if there's any new recipe I can fantasize about never making.  Or I turn the corner into the health/beauty section, to see if I can find any inspiring tips so I can continue my ill-fated trek of attempting to look like Natalie Portman.  Or I'll see what chick lit book is worth reading during my lunch hour at work.  While I wander through these sections, instead of yearning to buy a book I don't need, I simply whip out my trusty iPod Touch and use its Notepad feature, and I write down which book I may want to read.  I now have lists and lists... but that's only the beginning of the hunt.

After I have left the bookstore and find my self in front of the computer, with my semblance of a book wish list in front of me, I log into my local library's website.  This is where the magic happens.  I begin searching for the books on my list.  Once I've found them, I add them to my request list, making my "wish list" become a "reality list."  The "reality list" is where the fun starts.

Part of the treasure hunt is checking to see where the next book is on the list.  Often times I pick a popular book, so I am stuck in line waiting for it.  I know this sounds like it is annoying (and it is), but it's also fun to check which number I am, and which book I'll receive next.  I am cool seeing that I'm number 117 waiting for Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers."  I was stoked to see that I was first in line for "Courage to Start," a book that's going to teach me how to become a runner (it will, I know it!).  Part of the beauty of the library is jumping into the limitations it offers, and make the most out of it.

I guess the game I'm playing with myself with the library could actually be a metaphor of how we're all really attempting to play with the limitations that this economy has thrust upon us.  It is a harshening reality.  But, I think, with the proper tools, or lack there of, we can make the most of it.  I know that I'll be riding out this tidal wave of nothingness with book in hand eagerly awaiting my next treasure.

To market, to market

A couple weeks ago I started taking classes in the Integrated Marketing program through San Francisco State's fantastic extended learning program. Having always been interested in marketing as a profession, I was exuberant about the prospect of finally looking into the profession that I've wanted to become my ultimate career. I had always known that I had some sort of passion about, well, anything... yet it took me forever to finally see that I knew that market research was, in fact, my passion all along.

In my early teens I saw a special on PBS entitled "Merchants of Cool."  This documentary led me on a life long quest to find out that I wanted to be one of these merchants.  I wanted to know why these teens are doing what they're doing, why they're buying what they're buying...  I needed to know what was behind all of these behaviors.  Unfortunately, I didn't know how to get there.

Through my slithering, tumultuous college career I took different paths, hoping I would stumble upon what would  get me to the profession I had so long desired.  I had mistakenly though that Public Relations was the right way.  I was wrong.  I knew that I'd eventually have to take a business route, but I didn't have the gumption.  I had to find another way that didn't have me taking Business Administration and Accounting classes.

Eventually, I found that I actually flourished in a liberal arts environment.  So, after switching schools, I ended up majoring in Sociology at Sonoma State.  This was perhaps the best fit in allowing me to find out why people do what they do.  I knew it wasn't market research, but I did know that I had the excuse to study and learn what makes people tick. 

With my Sociology degree, I got to concoct surveys and interviews and delve into human behavior in no other way I thought possible, and I knew I was finally on my way.  However, hiccups inevitably occurred.  I graduated with my Sociology degree with an emphasis in quantitative research, and set out onto the business world - with no luck in landing any job that was market research oriented.

Finally, at my last company I voiced to someone that I had wanted to get into marketing.  This person took me under their wing, in a sense, and I learned a little about Product Management (which does include market research).  Ultimately though a position for me never arose and I was discouraged, laid off, and the passion disappeared.

I didn't think that I'd ever have a passion about my career's direction again.  Being laid off took a bigger blow emotionally than I ever thought it would.  Although I have had a new job for a while, I still feel stings of rejection from my last job.  Almost as if any progress I've made on my dreams have been derailed - that is until I started this program.

I hate to admit this, but mom's really do know best.  When my mom suggested to take the Integrated Marketing Program at SFSU, I knew it was the right choice.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed the first class, I knew that once I stepped foot in the Market Research class that my life was about to be made.  I drove home that night knowing, that without a doubt, I was meant to be a market researcher.  It also dawned on me that I knew and had my passion all along.  I needed to find out how I could finally trudge through the art and science of something so interesting, and enjoyable to me.

I'm glad that I can sort of see through the fog that was covering my path to me.  As I traverse the trail, I'm glad that there is finally a goal in sight, and that with this program, I have some sort of compass to get me there.  Here's hoping....