Now You See Me, Now You Don't!

CELESTE

So, my name is Celeste Miller.

My family and I are from Seattle, where, as you already know, I hated high school. The only things I had were my loving parents and my best friend Layla. They supported me and held my hand through it all.

The other not-so-bad thing was that I did get that scholarship to NYU. My family didn’t have much, so being able to afford college without a scholarship was not in the cards. I’m super grateful I was actually able to go.

Layla also followed me to New York, thank God. She attended culinary school, which is not a surprise. Layla has always been an amazing baker.

She’d always bake me her great grandma’s famous chocolate cake whenever I was down in the dumps or had another run-in with Maddie at school. That cake and Layla always got me through some tough times.

I had hoped and prayed college was nothing like high school.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

I tried to put myself out there and attempt to be social. At the dining hall, I’d put on a brave face and ask random people sitting alone if I could join them.

Seems like a nice, normal, friendly thing to do, right? When no one knew anyone during their first year at college, right?

Then why would they deny me and say every seat—yes, all six that were empty—were “taken”?

Or nod yes, making me think my luck had finally changed and I might find a friend until I sit down and they’d get right up and sit at the next empty table across from me.

Really?

I’m not blind. And no, I don’t smell or have gross teeth or bad breath, if that’s what you’re asking. Believe me, I wondered that myself.

So, I gave up and decided to stick to myself and focus on my studies. As luck would have it, that’s how I met Danny, in the library.

Danny, yes, a boy, my first boy, my only boy actually…and, of course, a nerd like me. Quiet, shy, dorky.

He was studying mathematics and engineering while I found my own calling. The one thing that kept me going through all the bullying in school was what my parents always used to tell me.

“Bite the bullet, don’t let them get you down. You have more brains than the whole school combined and one day you just might be their boss.”

So that became my goal. I had always strived to one day become the boss, a VP, or CEO at some kind of company. I thought it would make me feel powerful, untouchable.

And along the way, I fell in love with marketing and advertising. I double-majored in that as well as business management.

Marketing entails arts and sciences, combining virtual design, communication, psychology, and marketing. It involves strategic analysis and even politics including public relations.

Being the brains and the creative eye behind the scenes of commercials and advertisements, being the powerhouse directing where social media goes, and being involved in what products people buy and use on a daily basis felt invigorating and powerful.

I also felt like it describes me perfectly. I was always the one never seen, the one behind the scenes, not being known in some way. But I felt rewarded for my work. As long as I knew I created it, that’s all that mattered to me.

After we graduated, Layla moved back home to open up her own bakery. Danny and I mutually agreed to call our relationship quits. He landed an amazing job and worked for NASA.

I stayed behind in New York. It had more job opportunities than my small town outside Seattle.

But, unfortunately, in the world we live in now, experience doesn’t just mean great grades and graduating from college with a 4.0 pointer and a double major in the field.

Oh no. Experience is now seen as multiple internships at well-known companies. Unpaid, of course.

So, I landed an entry-level position at one of the companies I interned for. An assistant media planner.

My job consisted of supporting the team with day-to-day responsibilities, scheduling, researching marketing materials, and compiling data.

Eventually, I worked my way up to contributing my ideas, working on pitches and campaigns, etc. This really made my resume and references stand out.

Which brings me to today.

I jumped at the opportunity when I saw a job opening for the director of the Creative Design department.

The position was to be filled immediately, so the person working previously must have left in a huff and the company was probably freaking out. I submitted my resume, my perfect recommendations, and a smooth cover letter.

And I got it.

I still can’t believe it. It was my chance to move up from entry-level, even skip a few roles actually. The next level up in the department would be the head of Creative and Marketing Services and then VP.

It would be my chance to be that much closer to being the boss I strived to be.

The only catch, because…of course…there’s always a catch: the company was on the other side of the world.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it’s in LA. A different world compared to New York, but I have nothing keeping me here either, so, what the heck.

I packed up the contents of my tiny, overly expensive apartment that has caused me a world of debt, and I moved to LA. I arrived today with my things at my new apartment.

Next step: my first day of work, starting tomorrow.