Day 5

There's No Business Like Show Business...and Politics

...everything about it is appealing. Particularly in Atlanta.

I remember one of my best friends telling my about a dream they had a while back: in the dream, he was looking out on to an expanse of all of the promise of his wildest fantasies -- every goal, every wish. As he looked out over the horizon of achievable possibility, he heard a voice. The voice said to him: "I will give you all of this that you see here -- everything you've ever wanted and more."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Five days out of undergrad and I'm well on my way to forging a professional life for myself. And I find myself in a similar situation.

Throughout my senior year, I was working part-time for a state representative as her aide during the 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly. That gig has led to a "promotion" as her new Chief-of-Staff through next year's legislative session. From that opportunity I've also been extended an offer to work as finance director on a city-wide city council campaign and am quite possibly on my way toward getting hired on one of the local mayoral campaigns. AND I'm slated to start working part-time for a national school choice organization helping them plan their fall conference.

Point: I'm exactly where I want to be, with the tools and faculty to get where I want to go.

However, it would be disingenuous for me to pretend as if it's all clear skies. I mean, can I handle all of this? Do I really have the skills? Am I worth what I say am I? Can I make it in politics?

If nothing else, this past week has given me a mini-crash course in what it takes to make it in this town. Some quick lessons I've learned:

Lesson #1: Never commit until you've thoroughly considered all of your options.

I found myself in an almost-pickle when I committed to working on one campaign (out of sheer thrill that somebody actually wanted to hire me) right before another desirable opportunity came along. I'm still not sure if the latter is going to materialize like I want it to, but at least my options are open so that whatever comes along and whatever I want to do -- I have the freedom to do it.

Lesson #2: You are only as good as your actions.

Certainly we all know (or should know) that a person's integrity is the cornerstone of his/her/their character. What I've come to realize is that your worth is only as worthy what you do -- not what you say. This week I've found myself in a few situations in which I've mildly had to "show and prove". Sometimes I excelled, and maybe a few of those times I fell short. However, as I move forward I know one things is for sure: talk, in this industry, is cheap -- the only things that are important are what you know and what you can do.

Lesson #3: Be Prepared. Always be prepared.

Former Boy Scouts have a heads-up on this one. I've certainly learned the value of being bold this week. The meek and feeble get chewed up and spit out in politics -- if you want something, you've got to be gutsy and go for it, whatever it is. In the words of Jamal Simmons, the only ones without scrapes and bruises are those sitting on the sidelines. The upshot: you've got to know your stuff. When you move, you have to know where you're going, how to get there, and why getting there is important. Otherwise, you'll get lost.

From these lessons (and the bounty I'm sure to learn), I can confidently say that I know what I'm going to do with all that is given to me, and that I'll eventually find out how to get there. But I can't help but wonder:

Do I really have what it takes?