The Second Year In Review

Two years ago today, I made my first post on this blog. One year ago today, I reviewed my first year of blogging.
Sadly I don't have a record high number of views in a month again, and in fact it seems that recently my readership is on the decline. This could be partially due to the fact that I stopped posting links to my latest blog posts on Facebook twice and now only link to them once each. Ironic that a guy in advertising has not been advertising as much, right?
However, I can say that I've now got over two thousand total page-views since the beginning, which is pretty cool.

This time I don't think I'll give a summary of the past year the same way that I did last time where I link you to almost every single article I wrote, because that's difficult and boring.
All you need to know is that I tried posting three times a month but teetered off when school started, got really worried about my future, and kept on blogging and writing fiction.

So, about the future; if you can't tell, I'm taking the site in a new direction ... again.
Originally this blog was complimentary to my website "The World in My Mind" and was called "Further into My Mind". Don't remember this? Here, I have a picture to prove it:

The original look and title of the blog.

I then decided to merge the website with the blog and call it "Ryan Matejka's Blog", partially to make it easier to read all my literature, and partially because that's my name.
The blog was entirely focused on my life as an aspiring writer. The subhead of the blog title even said "inside the mind of an aspiring author" and just about everything was about my desire to be a successful fiction writer.

The look before the most recent change.

As you could probably tell, things have changed. As my future adult life rapidly approaches, I have things to talk about in regards to my search for a career in, as well as the world of, advertising. As more things happen, I expect I'll also want to do some talking about what it's like being let loose in the world, being engaged and eventually married at such a young age, and occasionally what my new favorite book/movie/album is (it's been very hard to keep myself from reviewing random things that I like or don't like, maybe I should let myself).

I also have to keep in mind that, as somebody looking for a job in advertising, potential employers will be looking me up on Google to get a better idea for who I am. I want to show them that writing and advertising consume my life, and that I'm a creative and interesting, yet professional, person.
The layout, content, and appearance had to be changed.

The new layout is sleeker and more professional,  the content is going to become much more varied than I originally conceived, and the subhead now reads "a place for me to say things to you" (because that sounded honest as well as silly). I want to talk not just about writing, but my life.
I expect it will be difficult to balance this professional look with a more loose form, but I think it's going to be fun to try.

Here's hoping you stay interested,
-Ryan

Rejections

I've been applying for post-college jobs. I have no choice, you see, because my current job is tied directly to my status as a college student. Once I graduate, I'm unemployed.

I'm going to be honest. I'm not used to rejections on a professional level. I've gotten hired for every position I've applied for in the past (minus one), and all three colleges I applied to accepted me (not that I was aiming incredibly high). Hell; I even got engaged-to-be-married in the first serious relationship I entered into. So this weekend when I got my first two rejection letters from places I applied for, it was a breath of fresh air.
I know, you were expecting me to say that it was a surprise. It wasn't, I'm no fool. I'm also aware that the other places I've applied for haven't contacted me back in any way, which likely means I'm rejected from them as well. In my defense, some of the places I applied for required experience that I just don't have. Sure I made my résumé look really nice and imply that I've already got what it takes for these jobs, but the fact is that I don't have any professional experience in writing or advertising.

Though I hoped that my skill in general writing would mean there would be a lot more job options available to me, it turns out most of the ones available are technical writing jobs for technical things of which I have little-to-no knowledge of. With graduation fast approaching, I've got to start keeping an open mind about what kind of jobs I can apply for.

One such technical writing job that I'm actually qualified for required me to be able to work in an environment full of raw meat. I have no idea why I need to be okay being surrounded with raw meat, but I am okay with that, so I applied. Of course, I haven't heard back from that place yet.

As for advertising jobs, most (if not all) of them require or prefer prior experience even if they're for semi-entry-level positions, and even if they don't "require" experience, somebody with experience is probably going to be more preferable over me; the guy with nothing but a fancy college degree that everyone told me I needed at a time like this.

All I can do, aside from apply for full-time positions at grocery stores, is work on my portfolio and keep applying until some place sees me as the potential golden nugget that I feel like I can be, and keep the mentality that I've been rejected not because I'm not going to be a great worker in my future career, but because I haven't applied to the right place yet; the one that wants a guy just like me.

Applying for jobs is like dating; you may be good at dating, but that doesn't mean you're dating the right person. I need to find and apply to the job that is the right fit for me. The one that's excited to have me.

I know it's out there. It's just going to take some time to find it.

-Ryan

The College Forty: Part 2

Let me get straight to the point: I didn't meet my goal by my birthday.
But the good news is that I've been eating healthier in general (aside from the delicious homemade cake-type desserts that I'm obligated to consume every night to prevent spoilage) and have been consistently eating less and healthier for lunch than the dinner-sized portions of unhealthy crap that I used to.
Instead of my weight hovering around 173, it now hovers around 170. I wouldn't be so quick to say that I've lost three pounds since a person's weight can fluctuate around two pounds a day, but the way I'm looking at it is that I stopped gaining weight and perhaps lost a minimal amount as well.

What I haven't been doing is exercising. Let's face it, it's winter and I just want to stay warm inside all day (also I had a nasty cold for a week or so). It's just harder to convince myself to get out to the fitness room when it's freezing outside and the pathway to the fitness room is covered in snow and ice.
Yes I could be doing exercises inside as well. Unfortunately it turns out I'm quite lazy.

My plan for the future is simple: keep working at it and trying new things until I find what sticks and what works.

I take full responsibility for this, I really do. I just like to look on the bright side of things.
-Ryan