360 Degrees: Going Back to...

SCHOOL PT. 1

Times are rapidly changing. I'm talking like things from 5 years ago seem to be going to the wasteland. Having changed my major after the 1st semester of sophmore year, well that and BS-ing around, I spent an extra year to get my undergrad degree. The whole last year the only thing I could think of was getting out and making my own living. As time drew near, I tried to enjoy the "last days of freedom," but the anticipation for post college life grew. Excitement, anxiousness and "grown-up" freedom were always on my brain in some way, shape or form. School was fun and a great experience, but I was done with it. No need to look at grad schools, cause I was done and more than likely FOR GOOD!

Then it happened, just as I had received really great news about my defense of my thesis (my thesis being the most involving assignment during my college career), I got the news that I was one point away in another class from graduating on time. ONE POINT! Never had I wanted to spit in someone's face more than that professor. The feeling was worst than the first time I had been called the N-word, cause the news came so unexpectedly and caught me completely off guard. Anyway, I finished in August, despite the professor proclaiming that she kept me in summer school because I was so cute. http://www.siyclone.com/html/emoticons/dry.gif

So finally I was out in the world. One thing though, I was still working P/T at an office supply store, interning in the Sports Information office at my alma mater and sleeping on the couch at my boy's apartment. Absolutely, nothing had changed from the last few days I had before I graduated. That lasted a month, until I moved back home and got another P/T job in the mean time. I wasn't living the dream yet, but I was still anticipating the days of my own place and "real" paychecks. The "paychecks" began in December when I accepted a job in a bordering state for exactly $24,000.

I was "rich" for all of 6 weeks until the reality of paying rent and having to buy a new car that could endure the 1.5-3 hour one way treks to and from work, set in. The amazing thing is I still had faith, a plan and the sense to understand that in my profession this is where you start. I was moving to NY after a year of experience at this job in VA. Then the towers came down and suddenly NY wasn't as prosperous as it had once been. Loss seemed to be the one theme going through the city. Whether it was lives or jobs, NY just didn't seem the place to be. But I still had an itch for the city that never sleeps, but employers apparently stopped looking for candidates that weren't already in NY. And I couldn't afford to just up and leave for NY without a job already lined up.

PT II Coming Soon....