MAIPing up is hard to do

My dear sensei, Mr. Jonathan Car-miyagi has been helping guide a flock of San Jose State advertising students on their way to the golden ticket that is the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program.

On his blog, Carmonize, he asked us MAIPers to reflect on the application process and tell everyone what we learned. This was my response:

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It's a matter of perspective.

I'd started off looking up at the MAIP as if it were some type of Greco-Roman temple where the Quaker Oats guy and the Geico Gecko held the keys to the World of Advertising. If I got in, Leo Burnett and David Ogilvy would each hand me a scotch on the rocks and my wardrobe would instantaneously become a combination of dirty hipster shirts and uptown cocktail dresses. And if I didn't get in (God forbid) I'd be ruined and forced to live in a ditch somewhere, gurgling in the oil-slicked water and shooting up expired hot sauce packets with a bunch of failed English and sociology majors.

Then I woke up from that dream and decided not to mix anchovy pizza with mint ice cream before bed.

The truth is that what I've learned most from this process is that it is ever-evolving while still sticking to its basic principals, kind of like Madonna, sans Kabbalah. And like Madonna, I don't need committee of heads telling me if my stuff is cool enough to be part of the club.

There will always be kids from distinguished portfolio schools who can rock Illustrator out of the water while I barely make a ripple. And there will be kids who should probably stay accountants. Or HR reps. And they will all get into the MAIP while I tried and didn't.

For as many people who will be entered into the Pantheon of MAIP, there are more that haven't even heard of it, and still have succeeded.

The important thing is that I can evolve too. I will still be there to one-up them, to bow down, to chew bubble gum and kick ass when I'm all out of bubble gum.

So, after all the hard work, I'm done anticipating. If I get in, awesome. If I don't...

Oh, who am I kidding? HEY COMMITTEE PEOPLE PICK ME NOW PLEASE I'M BEGGIN' YOU! I CAN'T HANDLE SPICY AND I'M ALLERGIC TO GUTTERS!