During my senior year, a couple my mom knew from work came to Thanksgiving dinner. They had just moved back to Virginia after living and working on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, for 10 years.
John and Leona told us all about Midway’s amazing wildlife, perfect weather, and unbelievable remoteness, and I hung on their every word. For someone who was raised to love the outdoors and majored in environmental science, it sounded like paradise.
“You should volunteer there!” John said, jokingly, noting my interest.
“Yeah… no, yeah, I actually think I want to,” I said. Little did I know, this was the very beginning of another decision that would change my life.
John told me that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had a biology volunteer program on Midway. It was just starting back up after a government shut-down, and wasn’t really being advertised. But John, of course, knew just who I should send an application to.
So I applied. And I was accepted!
When I got home from college, I packed right back up again, this time with a much lighter load, and flew to Hawaii. After a short stay with my grandparents, who live on Oahu, a Coast Guard C-130 took me and several others out across the Pacific, to a tiny dot of land halfway between San Francisco and Tokyo: Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Midway would be my home for the next four months, and I would be working outside every day. I was so excited.
It was an adventure, to say the least. Midway is an incredibly special place and it was such a privilege to work there — monitoring the critically-endangered Laysan duck, out-planting Eragrostis variabilis and Ipomoea indica, and removing hazardous marine litter from the beaches. I will forever cherish my memories of sharing an island with a million albatrosses, snorkeling with black-tipped reef sharks, and seeing the Milky Way against the darkest sky I will ever experience.
While I was on Midway, a friend emailed me a job listing she thought I was a good fit for. It was an entry-level, in-house graphic design position at a national network of nonprofits. It really did look perfect, so as soon as I got back to civilization, I sent in an application.
I interviewed throughout November and December, and then got offered the position! Even better, my boss-to-be specifically cited my experiences with DormMania and Midway as reasons I got the job. So I moved to Philly and started work as a full-time graphic designer for nonprofits: my dream job!
Unfortunately, I slowly realized the organization was not a good cultural fit for me. Several issues added up over time, but the bottom line was that everyone was overworked and underpaid. After 15 months, I reached the point where the paycheck and job security did not counterbalance the stress, so I decided to quit.
In the job search that followed, I discovered the power of accountabilibuddies. In fact, it was the also-jobless friend I was regularly meeting up with who found the part-time position I still currently hold! It’s a digital photo-archiving job, and it has given me the stability and freedom to pursue freelancing.
A few months after starting that job, I was offered a part-time graphic design position at a small studio that works only with nonprofits. Working there was a good experience, and I had great clients, but the studio and its clients definitely suffered from the 2016 election. Work began to dry up, and I left after a year.
And that’s where I am now: working a somewhat-creative part-time job that gives me the freedom to pursue a freelance career the rest of the time. Writing about that process on Medium. Looking for clients. (Hint hint!)
I work as a one-man creative agency for small businesses, nonprofits, and individuals — doing design, photography, writing, you name it! I blog about my self-employment journey to help other freelancers on www.ericdalecreative.com, Celebrate or commiserate by clapping or commenting. Or send me an email to collaborate!
