What I am about to tell you is a common enough story nowadays and a large portion of the millennial generation will have stories to match. So why tell this story you may ask; because I am not common.

When I graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University I had a grandeur dream of entering the publishing industry, but it became apparent rather quickly that with no internship experience and only a BA in English I had a rather poor chance of achieving this dream right out of the gate. So I was faced with finding a job that would help pay the bills and give me the thing that school never did; EXPERIENCE.

I started at Best Buy in June of 2012 as a part time sales associate in the camera department. While retail was not my dream job I chose to make every second count. Within three months I was moved to a full time position in the computer and tablet department. Then the camera department missed me so much that I was offered a sales lead position in cameras five months later. When Best Buy restructured its managerial setup in 2014 my position at that time was eliminated, but I was offered the newer position of Sales Lead. This position had me overseeing three departments (Digital Imaging, Movies and Music, and Gaming).

Although I had started at Best Buy for simply a paycheck I never would have guessed that I would learn as much as I did. through all these different positions I gained invaluable skills in customer service, leadership, speaking to strangers, organization, efficiency, and teamwork. So my piece of advice for college graduates is the following:

Always reach for the stars when applying for jobs, but don’t forget that inspiration and opportunity is not always found in the sky. Sometimes the tools you need to achieve your dreams can be found in the most unlikely of places.