Putting food on the table

Getting that meaningful piece of paper after walking across the stage at graduation was a special day, but along with the diploma comes many other pieces of paper.....BILLS. This is now the time of my life where I am completely on my own, having to make an honest living. So, I graduate and get a job.
In the last semester of college, I created my own freelancing service of EWD Design.
Unlike many college grads, I decided to follow up with what I studied and found a job as a graphic designer. I currently work at Infinity Marketing, which is a small marketing group near downtown Greenville. Our main cliental is the cable industry. Companies such as Comcast, Charter, Suddenlink, JetBroadband, Rapid, etc. What I do is basically handle print materials for these companies, such as direct mail, brochures, signs, billboads, web banners, and lots of other different types of print. It's a big deal being in the position I am in because I am one of two full-time designers, which means big fish in a small pond. I get recognized easily for my work and there is no feeling like the one when your boss comes and says he was blown away by a piece I designed. So how did I find this job??? Well, through my freelancing service!
A buddy of mine worked at a car stereo place, called Master's Car Stereo. The owner wanted to get the logo updated and so he recommended me for the job. Awesome connections. I did the work, the owner was very impressed and recommended me talk to Infinity, who actually was the company that usually handled all of her marketing. After accepting a t-shirt project and business card project, I went straight to the top and contacted Tony Williams, the president of Infinity Marketing. After a brief chat about my interest, he requested me send my work, and 2 interviews later, on the weekend before my college graduation, I officially accepted the job as full-time graphic designer. It was an amazing feeling.
This is my desk area where I work. I work on a 20" Apple iMac with Adobe Creative Suite 3. I have plenty of room for sketching, my laptop, cameras, scanner, pictures, etc....whatever I need for my workspace, which is usually just my Mac.
This is the sign out front before you enter and the big logo located at the receptionist's desk when you first walk in. Pretty neat and eye-catching for first time visitors if I may say so myself.

So where do I see myself in the future with all these new beginnings? I honestly have no clue, but I do have goals that I have set for myself. Design work is starting to become very clear and in focus to me as far as knowing what businesses and companies need for their visual needs. I want to go and be where everything is happening. I want to be in the bright lights of New York City, only for a short time, but enough to see what the advertising world is like up there. Sure it seems crazy for a young southern Georgia boy trying to make it in a big city like NYC, but ever since my first visit to Atlanta when I was 4 with my Uncle Alan, I knew that city life was for me. As far as my girlfriend goes, she is very supportive, "as long as we are back around our families for when we decide to have children." By then I hope to become an Art Director in a major advertising company in the Atlanta area, and eventually open my own design studio. All I know is that I am young and have dreams and goals spilling out of my ears! I never know what the future holds but I do know is that I am ready and PUMPED about it....