It seems like I’ve been at Roundpeg forever, but it’s only been nine months since I first stumbled into Roundpeg one cold Martin Luther King, Jr. Day for my interview for an intern position. “When can you start? How about right now?” Lorraine asked. And I’ve been around ever since, sneaking into a full time position in April when no one was looking.

Roundpeg is my first professional, full-time job out of college. I can say with all honesty  I feel incredibly lucky to have found this amazing (if insane) group of people to work with and learn from. Here are just a few things that I’ve learned from my time at the ‘peg:

• Web design’s not so bad: In college, my web design class was one of my least favorite classes. Designing in Dreamweaver was a chore, and my final project was an embarrassing mess. When I first heard that I’d need to do some web design at Roundpeg, I was less than thrilled. But working with WordPress is fabulous: easy to use, clean layout, and still allowing for lots of customization.
• “What are you doing right now? (in 140 characters or less)”: Twitter does not, in fact, suck.
• Thick skin required: Working with real flesh and blood clients rather than professors is hard. On one of my first web copy projects here at Roundpeg, I slaved over copy, wanting it to be perfectly reflective of a client’s business. When I handed him the finished copy, he told me that the copy didn’t seem “professional” to him, or indeed, very good. Ouch. We worked things out in the end, but that was a crucial first lesson: no matter how good your professor, boss, or mom says you are, there will always be people who hate your work. And I am at peace with that.
• The real world is not for sissies: Working 9-5 is an adjustment. Meeting deadlines of a few hours instead of weeks is difficult. Dealing with customers can be a challenge. But even after all of the ups and down of my short professional career, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Bring on the next chapter!