A lot of people come to New York City to become something, to get their names known and become famous. The city is thriving off of creative minds, and that’s why they call it “The City That Never Sleeps.” For me, it has always been hard to grasp that there are a number of people who venture to the city to land their dream jobs in the corporate world. It’s hard for me to fathom what it would be like to work in a corporate office confined to a desk all day long. And sure, there are a LOT of corporate environments that incorporate a desired cultural aspect, like Google or Uber.
We’ve all seen the perks of working at Google. I mean a nap room? Really? If only I could land a job there, I would probably never actually work. You could find me in the nap room in a deep slumber, getting my full eight hours. I would sleep through lunch breaks and ever so delicately drop grapes into my mouth like the real dainty princess that I am.
For a lot of young New Yorkers, and even experienced city dwellers, it’s understandable that jobs like that are hard to come across. Usually, you have to know someone, or work your way up in the rankings from an internship. But what happens when you’re 25 and finally realizing what is it you want to pursue your career in? Do you have the support to quit working for money and partake in an unpaid internship to build up your resume? Is someone going to pay your overpriced rent and ConEd or PSEG bills while you spend your weekdays on coffee runs hoping to catch your big break? (Coffee runs are actually highly unlikely in internships these days, as most internships are great learning experiences and an incredible way to get your foot in the door somewhere).
The majority of us don’t have this luxury, which is why I spend my time at my office sitting at my desk, finding alternative ways to flow my creative juices, like writing this article for example. I’m part of the lucky few that are able to get away with doing a lot of personal things at work. I work in Human Resources and spend majority of my day on Instagram, internally cracking up over funny dog memes and relationship posts, and then direct messaging the posts to my friends to give them a good laugh at 1:30 p.m. on a Tuesday.
When I turned 25, I went through what society likes to call a “quarter-life crisis.” It exists, I assure you. I wanted to go to college for Fine Arts, and had the opportunity to attend some top-notch schools (that I couldn’t ever afford). But I chose to get my education in a business and communications related field from FIT, which is actually a great and very affordable school.
Three-and-a-half years after graduating, I found myself at yet another dead end job, spending eight or nine hours a day watching the time pass. I started to think of what I actually wanted to do in life. What would make me happy? If you’re a friend of mine, you know that all I want to do in life is be a mom. But you can’t get paid for that type of full-time career, and you can’t apply for it either.
Being a mom is a life goal. So at the age of 25, I had to reevaluate what I was doing and begin to set a plan and answer the bigger questions: What is my purpose? How do I see myself spending the rest of my life?