About

The day after college graduation, you basically get thrown into the real world like a small child getting tossed into the deep end of a pool. It’s sink or swim from there, and many of us spend our post-grad years gasping for air and flailing around until we can catch a break or somehow figure it all out before it’s too late.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that many, if not most post-grads were sheltered from real-life responsibilities during their 4+ years of college. So when they graduate, many assume someone will always be there to keep their shit together for them and success will just fall in their lap, but the truth is, they have no realistic idea of how to do anything except take mid-day naps, drink alcohol and half-ass it just enough to squeak by. The twentysomething years are meant for figuring out who you are, what you want and where you are going, and most of us will learn the “how” somewhere along the way — just sometimes a little too late. There comes a point when we all realize that even with all the years of formal education, we never learned actual life skills, but we can bullshit our way through a 10-page paper. The last time I needed a 10-page paper was — oh wait, never — but what taxes actually are and how to buy a house? Clueless. (Although, there may have been that one lecture in that one accounting class that one time on 401ks?)

My name is Ashley, and I am a twentysomething Advertising/Marketing hybrid living in Austin, Texas. I graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2010, and have since been navigating adult life half-blind, just figuring things out along the way. I’ve picked up some tips, insights and shortcuts, and I would love to share them with all of you (hence, the blog).

SIDE-NOTE: Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for my college education, and UT is one of the top educational institutions in the world. I just think all colleges should take another look at the big picture (we pay out the ass for a degree that should get us a job, but we end up fully debted, sadly jobless and mostly clueless). Maybe it’s time to re-think the system?

In the meantime, until they figure out how to send us into adulthood with both feet running, I hope that you can learn from my mistakes, and in turn, be three steps ahead of the next twentysomething.

If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear them!