As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I was one of the few people in my group of friends who didn't know exactly what I wanted to do after graduation. I finished off the year relaxed, knowing that I would find a job, and had a ton of fun in the last few weeks my friends and I lived together.

I reached out to my connections - family friends who are recruiters, friends who worked at companies I was interested in, former coworkers from summer jobs - and I ended up finding a job at a start up in Palo Alto. I worked in marketing and support there for 2 years. It was a great learning experience for me, but deep down I always knew it wasn't quite right for me.

So, during the summer of 2009, I made the very difficult decision to leave my job and try to figure out what exactly *would* be right for me. It meant walking away from a very nice and regular paycheck, friends I'd made at my company, and even just knowing what I would be doing for the next several months.

I picked up a few part time jobs, signed up to take some classes, started working on my novel, and even had the chance to do some regular volunteer work to help me figure out what I want to do.

It's almost a year and a half later now, and I'm still figuring that out. But looking back at my time in the start up world, I know that if I hadn't left my job, as difficult as it was, I'd still be there today, no closer to finding out my true calling. So despite all the hardships of the past year and a half, I'm proud to say that I'm getting there!