Since I was seventeen, I've moved from job to job with little to no stress. I utilized the common practice of finding a new job before you leave your old one. After working my first retail job for a little less than a year, I found out I would be relocating to a new state with my family. Without even thinking, I started applying to any and all retailers in the new state. The very next day, I got a call from my next employer. I worked for that big box retailer for a year while attending a local community college. I was studying architecture and my professor suggested it would be smart for me to have a job in my field. He set me up with an interview and I was working at a firm before I knew it.

Unfortunately, working at the architecture firm was not all it cracked up to be. I was miserable from the beginning, but I didn't consider quitting or looking elsewhere. Instead, I worked quietly and allowed the days to pass by. The end of the school year came along and with that came graduation. I had finished my two-year program and was ready to move onto bigger and better things. That included ridding myself of a toxic work environment. Instead of utilizing my practice from years ago, I decided to quit abruptly. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but I wanted out because I wasn't happy or healthy.

I began job hunting the day I submitted my letter of resignation. I created a profile on every job site imaginable and applied for any job I came across, even if my qualifications didn't match. I needed to find something and fast. The thought of not having a steady income stressed me out. Emails started flooding in from companies days after telling me they had chosen someone else. Some were companies that fit my career path and some were not. It didn't matter to me though. I just needed a job where I could work to pay my bills.

It's been almost two weeks since I quit. I've heard from one potential employer, but that position doesn't start until June. Had I been less stressed in the final weeks of the semester, I would've been avidly searching for a job. It didn't occur to me until now that I probably could've had one lined up had I been a bit better at planning for the future.