I sit here, four years post-college to the day, and going through my old college graduation blog posts from 2014. Every May I do this; I get all my good, evergreen college posts ready to be scheduled on social media for a new crop of seniors to read and I get emotional.

Just remembering how it felt to write those blog posts in my off-campus apartment while crying my eyes out and thinking I wouldn't know how to survive without the place I called home; without the place I cherished more than anything else in my life.

Those first 6 months, and even the first year after graduation I felt like I was drowning. I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to be an adult and all I wanted was to crawl back in the cocoon that was college. I wasn't ready and I didn't think I ever would be.

Yet, here I am and I'm ok.

How did I end up here, four years later?



Who would've thought my life has changed this much from the moment I walked across the stage at Madison Square Garden?

I've been through a lot the past four years; friendships ended and friendships began, I've moved from one house to another, I lost my dad, and I've struggled a lot with my mental health. I've struggled with my career, my social life, my love life, and balancing everything in-between.

However, despite all of that I am still standing and I'm doing pretty good, and not just from the outside looking in.

I have what some would say is a dream job, even though it doesn't even feel like work. I have all of my college friends and talk to them almost every day. I have a wonderful family and support system. I recently got a promotion at work, and I'm still blogging. Plus, I have a side project or two in the works that I hope to finish by the end of the year.

If 21-year-old Briana could look at 25-year-old Briana, she would think she's doing pretty great and despite everything, life has thrown at her the past four years, she came out on the other side.

And that's the thing I've learned most the past four years.

Everything is going to be ok in the end, even if you don't think it will be. Even if there is no light at the end of the very long tunnel, things have a way of just working itself out.

You get over that boy, you find that job, you get over your nerves about an interview, you learn to handle work confrontations, you still find time for your friends... in the end, it's all ok.

I went through the worst thing to ever happen to me: my dad died and yet, here I am. I survived.

Somedays I wake up and don't know how I got here but I know that I'm right where I'm supposed to be. Without college, without the horrible experience and depression I had after graduating, I don't know where I'd be. I think in a way it made me stronger and tougher because, before my dad, I lost the one real thing that was special to me.

It sucks, I won't lie, to see your campus change and people you knew as freshmen are now long gone.  Nothing looks the same and the people are drastically different but whenever you walk back onto that campus, you suddenly feel like you've traveled back in time.

Whenever I go back to New Rochelle and visit Iona, I immediately start to cry. As soon as I see the campus sign, I get extremely emotional and am driving through the tears. It's a weird feeling, for sure, but more than anything, it makes me happy.

I'm so happy that after all this time, even with everything that has changed here and in my life, the feeling I have toward this place has never changed.

When I'm with my college friends, the feeling they give me is still the same feeling as all those years ago and that makes my heart sing loudly.

Because the truth is, no matter where you go or however much time passes, the feeling you have around those people that changed you will still be there.

So to anyone who is reading this and scared shitless of putting on their cap and gown -- don't be. I promise you, if I am ok, you will be ok too.

You can always go home again, even if the home isn't your college campus but those people who grew up with you and helped you become the person you are today.

You may leave a place and leave people but they never really leave you.

xoxo
B

I am by no means a financial wizard. I have been struggling for years to build up a savings account that satisifed me, and trying to control my spending habits.

Over the past months, I've gotten a lot better and I'm really proud of myself. I went a little crazy with spending last week but I've gotten back on track.

I don't have a good relationship with money and I've made that clear, but I do think that there are things that you should invest in/save for. What am I saving my money for? I'm saving for life... for an emergency, for an apartment, for an adult life.

I do think that there are important things we should all be saving for as we enter our twenties. It's definitely something to think of if you're entering your senior year of college. I wish I would've known this back then...



1. Luggage: I did not have a decent suitcase when I graduated college and shared with my mom. It wasn't until I started traveling for work that I knew I needed something serious. I needed a real, regular size suitcase that suited my personality but was also professional. I saved up a bit and bought this suitcase from Target. I also highly recommend these because they're everywhere and have a really good reputation.

2. Good Pillows: I HATE nothing more than waking up in the morning with a stiff neck. I am very particular about the pillows I sleep on and it drives me nuts when they're not just perfect (I sound very divalicious, don't I?) My pillows have to be soft but not so soft that there is no support and the last thing I want is a hard pillow. Good pillows are everything.

3. Investment Handbag: It's no surprise that I'd find a way to work a handbag onto this list because they are my everything. I have a lot of mid range handbags (Kate Spade, Tory Burch...) but I fully believe in saving up for a handbag that will last you your entire life, such as Louis Vuitton Speedy (which I got for my 16th birthday and it's still incredible). Having a tote like a Prada Galleria, or even a Louis Vuitton Neverfull, to me, is a good investment because it's a sturdy work tote that will be your go-to for job interviews, events, work days, etc. If you love handbags and are looking for something durable, I recommend saving up for something you love!

4. An apartment: I still live at home and I'm 100% ok with it. I don't feel financially responsible enough yet, and it's just me and my mom (my sister just moved out for her senior year of college) so I'm content here, but I have gotten the inkling recently, as more and more of my friends move out on their own, that I need to get serious. I highly recommend to start saving (starting with that graduation money) for your first apartment as soon as you get out of school. This would guarantee that you're ready to leave at a moment's notice, with a nice little safety net.

Learn from my mistakes and start saving now! 
xoxo
B

I've been wanting to write this post for over a year, ever since I got my job as a social media coordinator.

Social Media is a new job that a lot of older people don't get. I feel like I need to explain myself whenever I say what my job is: "You know, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook-- I manage all of the accounts."

It's also a job I know a lot of younger people want, because in all honesty, we're all qualified to run social media accounts (I mean, we run our own!). I wanted to write this post to give insight to college students (or post grads) who want to learn how to get into social media, or what that even requires.

I was a journalism major in college and I knew I wanted to get into magazine/features journalism, but I also knew that writing jobs were few and far in between. When I started my blog, and started getting into brands and the entire media industry, I saw that social media was very up & coming; I figured I'd be able to do that and it was something that really interested me.

Journalism and social media are very related if you think about it; journalism is giving people the news they need to live, and now we get our news from social media. It involves writing and organization and giving people what they need to know, just in a shorter form.

When I realized I could consider social media as a job, I decided to get serious. I read a lot of career books, I cleaned up my social media, and looked up the qualifications/duties of social media coordinators everywhere.

I never held a social media internship while I was in college but all of my journalism internships required me to share all my articles across my own social media. This DEFINITELY helped me learn how to get my point across in short characters, and how to form my personal brand.

Knowing how to talk about your personal brand is important for knowing how to talk about other people's brands.




When I graduated, I joined social media job groups, applied for any job I could get my hands on (that I was qualified for and what I thought I would like) and a lot of these jobs wanted to know how I ran my own social media accounts.

Showing employers that I could run my blog, and my own social media accounts with a personal brand; also knowing how to talk about social media, helps a lot.

I took a part time job at Likeable Media as an Associate Content Strategist, where I created written content for a variety of brands. There, I learned how to juggle multiple brand voices, and learned what our clients were looking for.

Know how to identify a brand voice. The quicker you catch on, the easier your job will be. A brand voice will become your voice; it's important to know exactly who you are talking too.

I learned a lot at Likeable; how to talk to your audience, how to measure analytics, how to define a brand voice, and how to brainstorm ideas. From there, I went to my current job at a major beauty brand as a Social Media Coordinator.

I got the job by joining Social Media Jobs on Facebook -- the job was posted in this group. I HIGHLY recommend joining this group if you're interested in a job.

You know what I learned from my current job and what I'm still learning?

Social Media isn't always easy. I learned my brand voice pretty quickly, but forming yourself to a company's structure is not a piece of cake. I learned how to take the right picture, what our audience responds too, how to make sure I'm speaking to every single customer and not alienating anyone.

I juggle between Marketing, Sales, QVC, and E-commerce wants & needs, while sticking to a schedule I create 2-3 months in advance. I travel and take photos and stay up for 30 hours every 4 months at QVC. I help with customer service, in addition to running & creating content for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Youtube. I help on photoshoots, I create moodboards, I work on projects for my boss, and I create report after report.

I keep track of bloggers & influencers, and have to be up to date on everything in the beauty industry, while also keeping tabs on where we are mentioned so I'm one step ahead of the game.

I am not complaining, but it's not as easy as some may think. It's not just posting a quick tweet to Twitter. It's fast paced and changes constantly. It's exciting and fun-- my job is NOT boring, and it's easy for me because I know what I'm doing, because I love what I do.

It's a very interesting world, and it's interesting to see how people respond to social media.

My advice to you? If you want to be in social media, try to get an internship helping a social media coordinator, clean up your own social media accounts, and try to plan things out for your own social media. Planning and executing is a huge part of my job.

Also, read Leave Your Mark-- this is the best social media book ever.You will learn a lot.

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at briana@royallypink.com & we can chat about all your social media dreams!

So, here I am, sitting in my room at 10:45 AM on May 17th, 2015. This time last year, I was at Madison Square Garden, getting ready to close one chapter of my life and allowing a newer, scarier chapter to begin.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Iona's graduation of the Class of 2015 to see my little, my sorority sisters, and countless friends close their chapter & begin a new one. It was very surreal, to be there, not in a cap & gown, and not be as emotional as I was last year.

It was very weird but very exciting because I knew that my sisters would be just fine. Last year, I didn't believe anyone when I said that I'd be fine but now, it was like I knew a secret that my younger sisters didn't.

Aside from that, it was truly an amazing day. Watching these girls I've known since they were freshmen & sophomores become these beautiful adults who have the entire world in front of them, I felt like a proud mom. It was also just amazing and so much fun to be with all my friends.

One of my best friends said it best, "I feel alive when I'm here." And it's so true... I never feel more myself or more alive than I do when I am in my element with all my best friends, my Gaels.

And with that, we have come full circle.

I've realized something over the past few weeks... I will never be over not being a college student. While I may not cry, may not dwell on it everyday, but I will always miss Iona and I will always be sad that that part of my life is over, and has been over for a year.

I don't feel like an adult. I may have a full time job (a dream job at that), I may have great friends and family, and a good life but I do not feel like an adult. I thought getting a job would make everything better but I've realized I need a lot more to be fulfilled.

What I need to be fulfilled, I don't know. Who I am, I don't know. That my friends, is a scary thought.

I'm in a much better place than I was 6 months ago, that is for sure. I've dealt with my anxiety, I know my triggers, I know how to be a more positive person, I know how to think more clearly, I know how to handle situations better than ever before.

This time last year, I would've had to be hospitalized over the fact that I had less than 24 hours to prepare for a business trip to Chicago... the first time I was ever on a plane alone. I could've never done that last year but my experiences in my first year of post-grad have helped immensely.

I've learned a lot this year... I've learned that some people will walk out of your life, with no explanation, I've learned that you can rekindle old friendships you never thought would live again, I've learned that if people don't understand you, they will try to bring you down with negativity, and I've learned that you are the only person who can make yourself happy.



No one else is accountable for your happiness so you must surround yourself with positive people. Just because someone doesn't approve of something, doesn't make it wrong. If you are happy and you know in your gut that it is okay, then do it.

I've learned that you have to make your own mistakes, you need to see life for yourself.

Am I still a little lost? Yes, but I think that comes with being in your twenties. I'll probably always be a little lost until I feel 100% settled.

I have to remember to have faith that fate is on my side. Everything is happening the way it's supposed too, everything happens for a reason, I can handle anything God and the universe throws at me, and I just really need to remember that my life will come together eventually.

So far, so good though...

I just have to keep trekking through and come to realize that everything will fall into place.

I will figure it out eventually but I have my shit together a lot more than I did a few months ago, which is always a plus.

I've finally fallen into a routine and I'm not completely pooped when I come home from work or on the weekends anymore so blogging should get back to normal, I'll be able to have a social life, and get my life back--fight the exhaustion!

To find out where I was a year ago, read my Letter to my 17-Year Old Self-- one of my proudest, most emotional blog posts to date.

Thank you all for reading, for commenting, for giving advice, and sticking with me through the craziest, scariest, transition of my life (so far!)