How I make that money honey

I am currently the Communications & Community Relations Coordinator with the school system I grew up in, as did the rest of my family. And while it makes the money, it certainly doesn't make a lot of it.

Where the magic happens!

Basically, I promote the district through press releases, create marketing materials, managing our website (our 15 webmasters at our schools) and community and district events. I also handle internal communications, create the district calendar and directories, act as the Relay for Life and United Way coordinator for the system (once again making sure my 15 school coordinators do their part too) and serve as the liaison between the media and the system.

But, my journey took me down a long and bumpy path to get here. 

I started my career in the communications world in 2007 when I had an amazing internship at The Daily Reflector, where I was the Features Intern - basically I wrote articles, helped with events and designed layouts for "Her Magazine", in fact I chronicled my June 2009 wedding through my "June Bride" column, and made the cover of their Sept. 2009 magazine which was all about weddings, including mine. 

I graduated in Dec. 2008 (a semester earlier, hollllla) from East Carolina University [GO PIRATES!] with a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in Communications:Media Studies. I thought I wanted to be a reporter, writing fun features pieces and getting to experience so many things in the world and writing them so others could experience them too..... then I entered the real world. 

Writing jobs were few and far between and sadly the Reflector was for sale and letting people go, not hiring people full time, so I moved on and took a job as an Advertising Sales Representative  (which I hated), 

....then got back into the newsroom at a weekly paper as a Staff Writer (that turned out to be more staff writer/layout designer/photographer/receptionist/bookeeper). 

whoop whoop, I remember being so excited about this issue because I had TWO stories and TWO photos on the cover.

When Josh and I had eaten through our savings due to my lovely $9/hr paycheck (yes, you read that right), I started applying everywhere. I was finally offered a job at a daily newspaper and as I was on the phone to accept it, I got an email saying a Communications Assistant position had opened at my school system. I took it as a sign from the Lord that it was something I needed to apply for and to turn down the job at the paper. And I did, on faith alone.

So, I applied, got the position and started here in March 2010 (see, God, knows what he's doing). I slowly moved up when my boss' position was eliminated due to budget issues, and I became the only person in my department and the only person who knows anything about what I do.

I will say that I am a little scared in my current position. I have nowhere to grow here now that they eliminated the position above me and my pay is nowhere near sufficient for the amount of work I do and the amount of hours I am away from my husband and son, but I am so blessed to have a job and I have faith that God knows what he's doing.