The College Hustle

You’ve probably seen your friends start to post things on social media advertising products, services, or just something totally rad that your friends have begun to pursue since exploring their interests in college curriculum. If anyone here is like me, I had no idea what I wanted to do coming into college and the major I planned in high school was not looking feasible. I began taking more classes in the J school, and I quickly learned that I really liked design and the VisComm classes weren’t as bad as people can make them sound. While I’m no graphic designer, such as Zuby (our design genius for Ad Club), I’ve learned to just jump into something new and see what I can learn from it.

Being from Lincoln, most of my ideas come from the state where I grew up and the University I love so dearly. Combining things that I love makes it a lot easier to be excited about making something, and the whole process gives me time to take a break from college and the busyness that comes along with it. Design also gave me a chance to try something new that I wasn’t really learning in my classes since my focus is more on writing. However, when my ideas started coming to life through Adobe Illustrator , I started to realize that other people might also share a similar love of Nebraska and Memorial Stadium. From this, I started ordering some of my designs and selling them on my own through Instagram. While not the most efficient way to conduct a business (if you can even call it that?), I learned a lot from the beginning and how there can be a lot of barriers amidst a pandemic.

I’ll break down a few of the things I’ve learned so far:

1. There can be a lot of hidden costs up front if you’re not a business oriented person.

At first I thought I would just be able to start making things and getting them to people who were interested in what I made. However, I soon realized that once I had stickers sold, I’d need envelopes and stamps. This doesn’t seem too daunting, but when you pay a lot of inventory in whatever you want to make, it can begin to add up. The cost to make stickers can be shocking, but if you wait long enough StickerMule will probably throw up a killer deal to help your pockets. Stamps cost $0.55 each, but if you don’t support the USPS I will be upset, they’re amazing. Envelopes are probably the cheapest thing in bulk, so that helps reduce trips to the store.

2. It shouldn't only be about money at first.

The path I’ve chosen in carrying out my small passion for design has proved that it’s not super sustainable on its own, so don’t worry about making loads of money. I think of it more as an honor that other people are into what I’ve made and want to support me/ sport that sticker on the laptop, water bottle, or phone. I get more excited about sharing what I’ve done and putting anything back into making more cool things. This time in college should also just be a time where you can experiment and craft your skills to get better every time. Not saying you shouldn’t make money, but it could ruin your perception of what you love.

3. It’s okay to charge people for your creativity, and you shouldn’t feel bad about it.

I know I said it shouldn’t always be about making money in the last point, but this is different. You’re a semi-professional, but as you continue to learn and grow you’ll find a career where you become a professional. If you find something in your hustling days that you really enjoy and start to master your craft, that could be your career. What things you have stored in your mind are wonderfully unique and charging people for products, services and your creative genius is a-okay.

4. Not everything will be super successful all the time, and you may even have a few haters.

This is just another part of growing and learning from the experiences that you’re jumping into. Like anything else, there will be times you fail and there will be people that don’t see it how you do. Keep busting your a%# and doing what you love. If someone makes a snarky comment, they may just be jealous of what you are doing to better yourself in your desired field beyond school. Also, there may come a time where someone tries to take your work and pawn it off as their own. Stand up to these things and don’t let others take what is yours.

I don’t even know if I’m the best person to hear these things from as I’m truly just an amateur looking to have fun while I’m still learning in college, but I want to see my peers and colleagues succeed outside the classroom. I think the J school is amazing at fostering brilliant minds and building a welcoming community where students can thrive. Myself, and the rest of Ad Club are here to push students to grow and continue that type of development in a tight-knit community. I hope that one day we can all meet up again and have fun at agency crawls, but until then, keep doing you!