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- Year Of Graduation: 2023
- College/University: University of Alabama
- Major: Political Science (Biology minor)
What do you do for a living, or how are you supporting yourself right now?
I am living at home with my 88-year-old grandmother taking care of her, which keeps me busy. When I did have a job, I managed to save a chunk of money to live off of so expenses are being covered by that until it runs out. I don’t pay bills because I live at home, which is great, and my family is supportive of that aspect. Plus, I have a twin sister with a full-time job as financial analyst at a defense company and so she takes care of things like the phone bill, car note, and insurance (we shared the car in college). Today I actually started my part-time job as a server at a pizza place. I’ve worked there before between contracts so I’m familiar with it.
Can you share what a typical day in your life/at work looks like?
While I am not employed full time, I try to keep a consistent schedule. I wake up between 7 and 8 in the morning. I lug myself out of bed then read the bible and pray (mostly for a job). I might make myself some breakfast, but not every day. I check my email for any good news (job interview or accepted applications), and I usually go to the library and study for the GRE, for most of the day. I’m hoping to get into grad school by next summer.
Can you tell me about your experience finding a job after graduation? Are you happy with where your journey has led you so far?
Right after I graduated in Dec 2023, I was still working at the job I had during college. I was a pre-med student in college, so I was getting my clinical experience as a Patient Care Technician at UAB hospital medical-surgical unit. I would wash the patients, change them, help them with activities, and take their vital signs. At that point, I knew I didn’t want to go to medical school, but my entire resume was science, research, lab, and hospital work.
Around July 2024, I was so burned out working almost 60 hours a week with 12-hour shifts, I quit my job at the hospital cold turkey with no plans (which I don’t recommend). I was unemployed for a couple of months until I finally applied with headhunter, interviewed, and got on their roster. A couple weeks later they called me for a position as an accounting clerk. I never worked in an office before, so it was a shock to go from having freedom to walk around my place of work to having to be stuck in a literal cubicle! To be honest, as a teenager, one of my biggest fears was being stuck behind the computer because of all the movies and books that I watched making it look like death, but it wasn’t that bad. It was a much-needed rest from the hospital where I was overworked and underpaid. In the cubical, I was just underpaid. I was clocking in at 8, sitting for hours on end, getting everything completed before my lunch at 12, then I was having hours where there was nothing to do. None of the people were my age so I couldn’t really socialize like I wanted to.
That contract ended and I was unemployed for another two months, from February to March. In March the headhunter called again, and I started a job as a customer support specialist where I would call people and wait for people to call me. I had to go into an office, and it was just me working for that company based in Mississippi, so I had no coworkers. It was mundane and repetitive and low pay, but I needed to pay my bills, so I suffered through it. I don’t want to talk badly about my boss, but she was a pain. I did figure out what to look for in a manager, though. Eventually I moved on from that role as well. Now I’m applying for full time positions so hopefully it can pay for my graduate school. Am I happy with where it has led me? Well, I got to experience other things outside of the hospital but nothing worthwhile. I did get to really get into my hobbies like writing, running, and reading.
Why did you choose your undergrad major? Do you feel your time spent in college was valuable? Why or why not?
I chose my major because I really loved learning about politics in high school. It was my minor for about four years, then I thought about double majoring it with biology, but I would be in college for another semester, so I just decided to make it my major and make biology my minor. Looking back on it, I should have gone to college for the job prospects not the passion because I am no longer passionate about politics.
I’m a first-generation college student so yes, I believe school was worth it, but I should have explored other majors. I loved learning and meeting new people, but I was way too focused on medical school, so I didn’t explore like I should have. I also went to a huge SEC school, The University of Alabama. I experienced racism and isolation. I wish I could have gone to a smaller college with a large student body and football culture, but eventually I did find a niche to fit into. I played club ultimate frisbee and got to travel to other schools out of state. Was it valuable? I don’t know yet. Do I regret it? Absolutely not, at least I had fun and learned something.
What does purpose mean to you? Do you think you’re living a purpose-driven life?
Purpose, to me, used to mean importance. Be the person that everyone needs. Be the most kind, be the most selfless, be the most honorable. You know, be important. It was the reason I originally chose to be a doctor. I was going for a surgery specialty, so I felt extra important. But now? My purpose is only to be a child of God. I’m a Christian, and I recently discovered my faith. I grew up in the Baptist church, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I fell into substance use literally every single day to stave off the depression of not having direction or a job. Finding God helped me stop.
I think everything I do has purpose now. I wake up and my purpose is to find out what my purpose is. Some days my purpose is just not to leave dishes in the sink. Other days my purpose is to apply for jobs. I make my purpose day by day. Right now, my purpose for the next hour is to answer these questions as honestly as I can.
I shouldn’t have put my eggs in one basket, and that includes my purpose. In high school my purpose was to be great. That meant being a doctor and helping people, so when I realized I didn’t want to be one, I lost my purpose. I think my purpose now is to just serve God and find a job to support myself.
What’s your biggest struggle right now? What led to it, and how are you moving forward?
Job wise, my biggest struggle right now is finding out what else I’m good at. I know I’m good at school. I like the structure. I like the support and the measurable goals to be met; turn in this paper by this time, following these requirements, repeat. But I know school, with the deadlines and the perceivable measured requirements, can’t last forever. I’m trying to find out what else I’m good at.
Another big struggle is not having the community that I used to have. I’ve always been quiet, but I’ve always managed to stave off loneliness by making friends with others around me in class or at work. Not having a job and not being in class makes it hard.
What do you want to spend more time working on, either personally or professionally? What’s stopping you?
Personally, I would like to work on my relationships, my health, and my mindset. As a twin I’ve always had a best friend, so I never had to try to make deeper connections with other people. I’ve always been a funny, unserious person when it comes to relationships, so it’s hard for me to break out of that and be honest with people. Being a perfectionist, I always think there are certain ways life has to go and when it doesn’t it throws me off. My relationships are the same, I suppose. I’m learning that’s not the case and I don’t know why I thought it was in the first place.
Professionally, I would like to work on my network, which also falls into relationships. At this point, I don’t know what I want to commit to doing because I don’t know what I want. I feel like, at least in my mind, I would be wasting the “real” professionals’ time. When I shadowed surgeons and other doctors, I didn’t feel that way because I knew I wanted to be in their positions. The conversations were easy. I knew I had to shadow them for the medical school applications, so I was just going through the motions. But now I don’t know what I want, so I feel that I would be wasting people’s time if I reached out. My first question would be, “how did you know you wanted to do this?” I was also diagnosed with ADHD Inattentive, so it’s harder to follow through on tasks. But I’m medicated now and it’s been helping a lot.
How do you define being a successful person?
Success in my family is an interesting subject to me. My mother, although not a college graduate, owned a business. She was a hairstylist who owned her own shop and employed other hairstylists. She also sold things like clothes and purses. She was likable, gregarious, kind, assertive, and excellent at her craft. She didn’t just “do hair,” she mastered the art of beauty. She went to hair shows, as a guest and a participant, and she was excellent with money. She bought a house by herself, and she did all this after getting fired from her apprenticeship around my age; I think she was 23.
Seeing her as a kid and basking in the fruits of her labor defined success for me. But the most interesting part was not the money she made, it was the answer she gave when I asked her if what she did was a career or a job. She took a moment to process, furrowed her brows and answered matter of factly “a career.” So I guess that’s what I define as success. The answer “a career” when asked what type of job I want. She’s no longer here to pass on her guidance, but I would define her as successful. I think she would too.
If we traveled three years into the future of your life, what do you want to achieve? What would you hope has changed?
Today before I sat down to write this response, I heard a noise in the fireplace. The noise kind of sounded like clattering, like something was running in it. I had to get my glasses, and when I came back to the den where the fireplace was, I saw a juvenile Carolina Wren staring back at me. I was shocked. Where did it come from? How did it get in the house? How long had it been here? It was small but it could fly, and it was scared of me. It couldn’t get out because the glass doors of the hearth were closed. Instead, it was just flying around, banging itself into the walls. I got my brother up to help. Google said to turn off all the lights and open a door, so we did just that. After poking it with the back of a fly swatter for a second time it finally went straight out of the house and back to its habitat.
In three years, I hope to be out of the fireplace like that bird. I hope my habitat has changed and my attitude has changed as well. I would like to be done with the book I’m writing. I would like my blog (where I review movies) to be booming and sponsored. I would like to have completed a graduate program and have no question about what I am capable of doing. I would also like to have run at least a half marathon. I want to have better consistent relationships, and I want to have a stable job that pays me well.
What’s the biggest lesson or piece of advice you wish you’d known earlier?
I wish someone had told me that I did not have to front like I had it all together at age 21. I would have asked for real help and not advice, often and always. I’m taking my advice now and it’s hard because I’m a doer and very independent, but I realize that the more help I ask for the more help I get. Simple as that.
I also wish someone told me that time is not running out for me, the building is not on fire, and to delete Instagram sooner.
Connect With Aliyah:
- LinkedIn: @AliyahJohnson
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