Ode to Email

Oh dear email where o where would I be without you in my life? I would be a quivering puddle of nothingness and I might have a few more friends actually.

My very first internship out of college, the one I was certain would change my life, and did, was started by email. I was in a Barnes and Noble with a friend and I picked up a beautiful magazine and my friend casually said that I should just email them and ask if they need an intern. I did.

I got the internship, hated it and quit (over email) and a few days later got email from a woman who worked there and she set me up with my next internship which turned into my job of 5 years and then I left to pursue something else, that I inquired about by email, working in the lab.

And now I am off to graduate school. I wrote to confirm that I was accepting the offer for admission to Graduate School over email and I told the man that actually I had emailed him 6 years ago to ask what it would take to get into this very program. He told me what I should do and I did it and now I am in. Very very satisfying and completly impossible without email.

But lets not get all teary eyed yet, I also lost a friend over a nasty email I sent to her by mistake, about her. I have said loads and loads of stupid and caustic things over this medium, things that I would never ever say to anyones face. I should have an apology email form letter by now I have written so many. I have pressed “reply all” many times when I didnt intend to.

But I check it about 50 times a day and overall its been a good run. I keep in touch with people I know I would not have otherwise and my writing skills have improved because of it.

I know I would not have picked the phone up or have written a letter for all of these things because I am too scared. I pretty much hate the phone. So who knows where I would be without email. Maybe reading a book by candle light alone in a drafty room.