Ashley’s Journal: What a Year… and it’s Just Been Two Weeks

Cary, NC — Welcome to our new series where I get to toss my journalistic rules and rituals to the wayside and just speak directly to you, the CaryCitizen readers. There are a couple of things that I hope to accomplish through this series for both myself and for you.

For myself, I hope to use this as a method of therapy. A platform where I have no limit on what I can share. It can be anything from an amusing tale of daily life to a snippet of my morning road rage on the highway. It might be an unpopular opinion that I make a case for or a message I think the community could stand to hear.

Now, for you, I hope many things. I hope you find a sense of companionship through this series because you aren’t ever quite as alone as you may think. I hope you can occasionally find joy and laughter, even if it is at my expense. I’ll take it. I hope that you can find out new things about yourself as you get to know me and my life.

On that note, here’s a glimpse of me just since the start of the new year!

New Year, Big Changes

As you have hopefully read by now, I am the newest member of the CaryCitizen team and I started in the role of assistant editor last Monday. The search that led me here was quite honestly a grueling and depressing one at times. To be applying for a job in a large area with many opportunities with a bachelor’s degree should be fairly easy, right? Nope, dead wrong.

I moved here to find a larger challenge for myself in my career and I had this ideal one to three-month time window where I just knew offers would come rolling in. Dead wrong again, folks. It’s a tough blow to the ego when you’re constantly applying to jobs and relentlessly being either ignored or rejected. Then, when you politely ask for feedback from those rejections it’s all related to not having enough experience. It’s an interesting predicament to be in when you don’t have enough experience to be considered by the bigwigs of a large media group and yet have too many credentials to work at a retail store or coffee shop. I received rejections from both.

Then came the holidays where I dreaded to share my lack of a job with all the inquisitive relatives. Except, it wasn’t entirely bad news, I did have a prospect that I was extremely hopeful for — CaryCitizen.

I told everyone I could think of how ecstatic I would be to get the job and to start learning the people of Cary and get writing again. I had to keep my excitement contained though in the event that it wouldn’t work out.

Thankfully, I got a great Christmas present, the job! Starting the new year with a new job and a fresh perspective from the months I spent working to find this job was a serious blessing and it all ended up coming in great timing.

Then Came Another Change

The second huge thing to happen, just two days after my start date, was getting approved to rent a home in Cary. Naturally, this is thrilling news because, for one, who wouldn’t want to live in Cary? And two, less money spent on gas every day is a God-ordained miracle if you ask me.

Now I know I’ve painted this wonderful picture, but wait a minute. Let’s think about this. The same woman who spent months unemployed is now responsible for monthly rent, a security deposit and a pet fee all in the same month of starting a job. Yes, to answer your question, I am a little insane, but this particular house was the right move and I can’t wait to call Cary my home in the very near future.

This all leads me to today, day two of week two at the new job and loving every minute of it.

I’m in the throes of getting my footing now, but my mission in the weeks, months and years ahead is to serve as your personal connection to the Cary community. I want to see more and more Cary citizens (see what I did there?) be drawn to our website and social media channels as a means of keeping up with the heartbeat of the town. For those who are already devoted readers and to those who soon will be, thank you, and I look forward to writing for you.

To pose a question or a topic for Ashley’s Journal, email: ashley.kairis@carycitizen.com.