As a recent college grad, I have now moved on to my next chapter in life; the job search.

The first thing I learned about the job search is to never feel overconfident going into an interview. I learned this on my very first interview.

I went into this interview having known some of the people that worked at this company and felt pretty confident that all would end well for me.

Why wouldn't it? I'm 22, my parents tell me I'm smart and I know the people I'm interviewing with. Cakewalk, right?

Not really.

When I showed up to the interview they had a task for me, which was to go around town in the late morning and survey townspeople of what the highlight of their 2016 was, a year where Donald Trump was elected president, the gay nightclub PULSE was shot up, various Black Livers Matter protests and even the death of "Purple Rain" singer Prince.

So there I went, off on my first task, trying to prove to this company that I was a fit candidate for the job.

The first person I saw was a man who was shoveling the sidewalk outside. As I approached the man, I said "Hello" and he responded with a "Hi". Before I could even ask him what the highlight of his 2016 was, the man had started walking away, even though he hadn't finished shoveling the icy sidewalk.

The next two people I approached were high schoolers on their off-period. One was wearing a Phish (80's rock band) t-shirt, while the other one was smoking a cigarette. Neither had a jacket, even though it was late December.

I asked them if they had a minute, to which one of them said "Why". I posed the question of what the highlight of their 2016 was, to which the smoker replied, "I don't know, I shot some sh*t a few months ago." I asked if there was anything else and they said "no" and got in their pickup laughing at me.

I continued walking around downtown, but no one was out and about at 9-9:30 on a Tuesday morning

Then, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the mall. It was the week of Christmas and the mall opens at 10 AM. There has to be people there who will (1) answer my question and (2) not swear in their response. This is going to be great even though it might not even be legal.

The first man I approached didn't stop walking and said, "I'm sorry I'm really behind and have to be at work by 10:30."

The next people I got to stop was an elderly couple. After asking if they were willing to take my survey, the pair looked at each other, before the man stated that "he was unprepared to answer the question" and that "he didn't know I was going to be here". He said that with a smile and the pair walked away.

So far I've gotten the attention of six people and all I have for my survey is, "I shot some sh*t a few weeks ago."

I then saw a man walking, carrying a baby in a car seat. PERFECT.

In a year where Prince died, someone in the same mall as me had a baby. I can't wait to hear about how he and his wife had been trying for years to have a baby and, finally, this was their year.

"Hi sir, can I have a second of your time?"

"Just a second" he responded, with a dorky half-laugh. By half-laugh it was like the sound your grandpa makes before he starts laughing, so it's basically just a loud exhale of oxygen. Like a smokers wheeze, but I don't think he was a smoker, just not normal.

"Thank you so much," I responded. "I am doing a survey around town and was wondering what the highlight of your 2016 was?"

He pointed to his baby and said, "We had a baby". I asked him to elaborate and he said she is a blessing and that he had to leave because his ride was here.

Sidenote: I don't think his ride was there.

Feeling very discouraged I went to the nearest Starbucks to get an expensive coffee to drown the sorrows of my defeat. The drive-thru was too busy so I decided to go inside.

Once inside, I saw a few people sitting around the coffee shop chatting and thought "why not ask these people?" (Still not sure if it's legal to do that, but I did anyway)

The first people I talked with was an older man and a younger man. I learned that the older man was going to be the younger man's father-in-law come summer of 2017.

FINALLY, MY BREAK!

I asked the older man what the highlight of his 2016 was and he responded, "My little brother, who is in the military, got saved this year."

I responded by saying how amazing that is and then asked him if he wouldn't mind elaborating on how he got saved.

The man said, "he found the church and God."

I had assumed that this man had been saved from dying while serving his country, not that he had been saved by the church. I'm not trying to downplay it, but religion is a hot topic and something I certainly wasn't comfortable writing about it for my test trial with this company.

Soon after the man said, "but you know what I hate about 2016? I hate the morality of mankind."

I asked him to elaborate, which I soon learned was a mistake. He said, "I hate this anything-goes culture. Men can be with men, men can go in girls bathrooms, it disgusts me."

With that, I exited Starbucks and headed back to the company I was interviewing with having nothing more than "I shot some sh*t a few weeks ago," "I had a baby," "my brother found God" and "I hate non-straight people."

Needless to say, I didn't get the job, which is okay looking back.

I went into that interview feeling like I was a sure-bet and left feeling very embarrassed. I failed this interview and looking back that is just fine, because the only way you learn is if you fail.

Some day, hopefully sooner-than-later, I will have the job I've always wanted and a job that makes me happy in a place that makes me happy.