What am I doing in a room full of Marketing Madmen!
It wasn’t long ago when I was often asked, “What do you want to do in life?.” I was young and naive with no answer, so I’d shrug and say, “Let’s see, still figuring it out.”
5 years ago, I joined an Architecture school. Perhaps, the bravest (and the most reckless) decision of my life. And they asked me, “Why did you pick Architecture?” I was older and a tad bit high-on-life. So I casually replied, “I like designing spaces.”
This is the year 2019, I graduated a year ago and currently work at a tech-based company Unifynd as a Junior Content Writer, coming to grips with the mad world of marketing and technology. And before the cynics pounce on me with the question, “What is an architect doing in the marketing team of a tech-based company?” Well, hold it right there, I am getting to it.
My biggest fear after giving the last jury of my life was the oblivion that lay ahead of me. So it’s fair to say, most of the decisions of my life were never calculated, they have been chances I stumbled upon. Chances, that changed and shaped my life. Just like this one, and the one before and so on. Now let’s get to life in A-School. With an array of comprehensive subjects diluting in different focus areas from time-to-time, it prepares you for everything there is (maybe not rocket science as yet). You don’t become only an architect; you become an individual who possesses the magical power to do almost anything. Pushing you beyond the boundaries of what you think you can achieve (you are likely to cry atleast once in A-school) and extending your preset limits; it turns you into a challenge-driven person. Tell an architect that he can’t do it, and watch him/her bring thy kingdom down to make it happen! As we often call ourselves as nightmares for engineers — and I take absolute pride in saying this — but we are in true essence believers of our vivid imagination.
And so here I am, sitting in a room full of marketing madmen! Audacious much? To begin with, I wouldn’t say it’s very different. I now look at the hoarding and billboard over the “structure”. No more worrying about a low SBC; it is the low CTRs that bother me. Talk about “sites”, and watch me flaunt my SEO keywords and hashtags (not to mention this blog has been optimized). Move over A1 drawing sheets; I am consuming excel spreadsheets. Say tools, and it won’t be a T-scale; I am talking about SEM tools- Hootsuite and Buffer. Posts are no more columns, views are not drawings, and this is NOT architecture. And all of it began for me the day I got picked for this job. Again, it was quite a serendipitous encounter.
Life at Unifynd is not-just-another-kind, it’s extraordinary!
I came here, with a head lacking-the-basics-of-marketing, into a room full of people who threw technical jargon at me like it is as simple as “AD & BC”. I still remember, having Google handy for any SOS, yet failing miserably. Working on my emails, SOP’s, tech-lingo, and feeling like a square peg in a round hole; yet never wanting to quit or stop. I still struggle with the basics and end up learning something new everyday. But the truth is, there is no other way I’d rather have it, than at Unifynd. From the first cup of coffee by Chotelal to evening sandwiches by Rap sir, from birthdays at Unifynd to tiring town halls, from not-so-healthy Fridays to random celebrations; to days that have turned into months and to life at Unifynd, I can fairly say, I have got better at making decisions.
And still, something’s don’t change, ever. Coffee cups keep me awake at nights, deadlines are nightmares, time management is messed up, but creativity is still the elixir that helps me nail this job! On this note, a slightly more matured me will tell you the most important learning of my life.
We don’t educate ourselves to become professionals in one niche of life, we educate ourselves to become capable individuals who can ace anything if we set our heart and mind on it. Our capability will always precede excellence. Do not let your elementary education or your degree decide where you want to be or who you should be.
So ask me again, all you critics, straight-jacketed mind-bots, “What am I doing in life?” This time the answer will come from a more confident and capable individual. “I am an architect, will always be one. But as for what am I doing here; Let’s see, still figuring out.”
Know more about Unifynd, follow the links below.
