Honestly Happy

Elizabeth (Liz) O'Kane is currently a senior studying Cognitive Science B.S.  She has been faithfully working for Career Services since her freshman year as a Student Assistant, Career Peer Educator, and Media Assistant.  She plans on pursuing a future career in business and marketing.

I started at UC Merced Fall 2009 as a Biological Sciences major.  I was excited and motivated to get straight A’s.  I assumed that since I went to a private college-prep high school, that college would be a breeze.  Boy, was I wrong.  I ended up failing my first semester.  I was extremely discouraged and didn’t know what to do.  Yes, I found the subject matter interesting, but I could not keep up with the material.  Balancing school, work, and personal life became too overwhelming.

For the past few months, I kept asking myself, “Am I happy?”  I would tell myself yes, because I was making other people happy.  I clearly did not know what happiness was.  After barely passing my classes, I finally decided to change my major.  As far as what career I want to pursue, I had no idea.  What I did know is that I enjoyed working with people, being inventive and artistic.  But how was I going to pursue these passions without becoming a starving artist?  Money drives most people and I am one of them.  I work hard to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.  Comfortable meaning I have a working cell phone, I can afford to eat daily, and I am able to drive wherever my heart desires.  With these personal requirements, I knew I needed to succeed in my career and becoming an artist was too risky.

I started working at Career Services my freshman year as a Student Assistant.  Working in an office environment was completely unknown to me and I made many mistakes, but I learned quickly.  After three years, I switched positions to the Media Assistant.  As a Media Assistant, I design most of the marketing advertisements for Career Services events and maintain the social media network.  I love this.  It is exciting, fast-paced and I am able to connect with students on a professional and personal level.  I’ve enjoyed my work so much that on my free time I have been teaching myself html code.  Yes, it is difficult and tedious but the nerd inside me secretly loves it. 

As far as my current career path, I still have no idea where I will end up, but who does?  All I know is that I want to work somewhere that makes me happy and I refuse to settle for less.  I am positive that my happiness lies in business, marketing and advertisement.  And although this path is risky, cutthroat, and competitive, I am excited, passionate, and honestly believe that I will succeed.