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Arts & Life
The Clarion \ August 21,2019
Brevard College alumni
take on the Golden State
By Chloe McGee
Arts & Life Editor
Each year, Brevard College is proud
to release its graduating class into the
professional world to begin a new chapter of
their lives. For BC alumni Audrey Ashbumer
(class of 2018) and Arlan Parry (class of
2017), that journey began in San Francisco,
California — a place that feels larger than
life in comparison to Brevard’s close-knit
community.
This past summer, I had the wonderful
opportunity to explore San Francisco for
the first time with Ashbumer. Together, we
attended Outside Lands, a music and arts
festival located in Golden Gate Park, where
we met up with Parry and some of his local
friends.
After Ashbumer introduced me to Parry,
we began to discuss what it was like for him
to drive across the country to a booming
metropolis with nearly 5 million unfamiliar
faces. With only $900 in his pocket and one
friend in the city. Parry came to SF almost
immediately after graduation, but quickly
made the right connections to land a job in
technology, an industry that dominates San
Fran’s corporate climate.
“It’s all about networking,” Parry said,
as Ashbumer chimed in with affirmation.
Because, like Parry, she started her career in
San Francisco knowing only her brother and
his family before expanding her professional
and personal circle.
Ashbumer moved to San Francisco just four
days after graduation and was determined to
succeed, undaunted by the city’s competitive
atmosphere. She began with a vision to
develop her side-hustle — a business where
she optimized Etsy shops — into her very
own, self-sustainable SEO company, Optmira
Marketing.
To say the least, Ashbumer’s endeavors
have been successful, as she and a team of
paid interns are now focusing to “improve
internal company growth and organization”
and eventually become the “go-to marketing
company for top-tier interior design and
architecture firms,” Ashbumer said.
“Businesses fail when people give up...
every hardship is an opportunity to learn
and improve,” she said. “Set realistic goals,
measure performance, celebrate success.”
It seems that in many ways, San Francisco
is not as different from Brevard or the rest of
the world as we might think. It’s all about who
you know and being confident in your ability
to make something of your life. The people of
San Francisco understand this and countless of
those I met encouraged me to start believing
in this mindset because they understand what
it means to be in my shoes.
“They say they built the train tracks over the
Alps before there was a train that could make
the trip. They built it anyway. They knew
one day the train would come,” is a line from
one of my favorite movies, Under the Tuscan
Sun. It seems that this quote rings tme in the
perspectives of Ashbumer, Parry and many
of those venturing into unknown professional
territory.
“Say yes and figure it out later,” Ashbumer
said.
San Francisco is notorious for its inflated
cost of living, which is certainly intimidating
to those fresh out of college, especially those
from mral North Carolina. However, Ashbumer
and Parry were not frightened away and assured
me that I should not be either.
“I think it’s important to jump into the
unknown... Believe in your potential,” said
Parry, who is leaving San Francisco in the
coming week to pursue his career in New
York City.
Just within the short week I visited, I was
able to make multiple connections with people
in San Francisco as well as New York City.
Though I am currently in school, I am thrilled
to have begun a network of my own. This is
living proof that all it takes is one relationship
to get your hat in the ring.
It was an incredible experience to not only be
immersed in the liveliness of San Francisco, but
to also witness the success that Brevard College
alumni are capable of. Trust your instincts
because I have hopes that this can become a
reality for all of my peers, including myself,
here at Brevard College.
Pictured left to
right: Current BC
student Chloe
McGee, alumni
Arlan Parry and
Audrey Ashbumer
at this year’s
Outside Lands
Music and Arts
Festival, held at
Golden Gate Park
in San Francisco.
Transylvani
in Myers Di
Members of the Transylvania County
Democratic Party leadership team will
be on campus this week from Wednesday
through Saturday. They will be in the
cafeteria during lunch and dinner.
“We will be conducting a survey of
a Co. Democratic Party
ning Hall this week
the issues that matter most to you, sharing
candidate information, registering voters
and gathering volunteers,” TCDP Volunteer
Coordinator Victoria Johnson wrote in an email
to the Clarion on Monday.
The representatives on campus will also have
information regarding paid positions with the
Board of Elections Office.
“The 2020 election may be the most
consequential election in history, and we want
to be ready!” Johnson wrote.
— Mary Lewe