Over the past five weeks I’ve gone to birthday parties, gone
bowling in Brooklyn, spent real time with some of my best friends, been on
interviews, seen Alicia Keys and John Mayer and Stevie Wonder perform in
Central Park for the Global Citizen Festival (where Bono, Janele Monae, Nelson
Mandela’s son and nephew, the female presidents of both Malawi and Liberia, Elvis
Costello, and many promoters of a global citizenship attended), eaten tons of AMAZING
food, watched delicious live Jazz at SMOKE Jazz and Supper lounge, shopped far
too much (and bought blue suede shoes!), gone to a concert at Radio City, made
friends at my local Starbucks, joined a cheap gym, participated in a Peace
Corps information session at NYU to share stories, seen the Statue of Liberty
from the Staten Island Ferry, been all over the city on the Subway (almost have
it down), jumped onto the Sunday Brunch train, gone to the 9/11 memorial (and
of course I cried…), signed up to volunteer at the Pumpkin Fest and paint
pumpkins with kids, had conversations with people who speak the language of
truth, lost a few pounds, been rained on, sweat my eyeballs out the very next
day, gone to a wine and chocolate bar (YUM), and got a job.
I love my apartment. I live near everything: a laundromat, a
post office, almost every type of ethnic food you can imagine, a grocery store,
Central Park, a Ben & Jerry’s, a Rite Aid, a yoga studio, a Starbucks, a
pub, a subway stop, a green juice/raw food café, and $4 margaritas (this is
VERY inexpensive here – and they’re good). And it’s big and beautiful and I
have three sweet roommates. One of them also went to UCLA and we discovered
that we actually took a class together in 2007 but didn’t know it – small world!
I slept on the couch my first two weeks because it took forever for my bed to
arrive, but what sweet satisfaction once it did! Memory Foam – it’s incredible.
I still don’t have any other furniture so there are boxes all over my tiny room
(8.5’x8.5’), but I believe it will all come soon.
I’ve had an amazing time reuniting with some of my
favorites, almost too much fun. It’s good that I’m starting work next week. The
job hunt seemed like forever to me, although I’m told this is quite a quick
turnaround. There was a lot of stress about interviews, competing recruiting
companies, and expectations that seemed too demanding based on the capabilities
of one person. Fortunately I met people who encouraged me to stand strong in
what I wanted and not just take what I knew what I was good at… a sweet
reminder that I came here for the right reasons. So I had several great
interviews and was quickly offered a job. When I found out how much they would
pay and that it would be a one-year contract, I said NO WAY. So when my
recruiter asked how much I would need to be paid to accept the position I said,
confident that there were several other promising and potentially more self-aligning
prospects, that I would take it if they raised the wage by $6/hour. So she
asked the company. And they accepted.
Before I divulge what it is, I want to share this quote. I
found it in the Turned-on
Woman’s Manifesto (really just amazing – you should read it) and felt it
quite resonated. It is an idea that I held in mind before I came here and
actually for quite a few years prior because it helps dispel the fear of the
unknown, and empowers to create what you want by providing boundless
possibilities: “A turned-on woman isn’t defined by her circumstances.
She defines her circumstances by who she chooses to be within them. Urban
career woman, suburban secret agent—it is the substance, not the packaging,
that determines her destiny.”
Bearing that in mind, I knew that being here and doing
whatever I find myself doing would be designed by me. And I’m here to trust
that what ends up happening is only a means of putting me on that right path.
So when I realized how much this big pharmaceutical company really wanted me,
I had to look closely at what it all meant to me. I’m about nutrition, pretty
naturalistic by idea and by practice (mostly). I’m about promoting personal
empowerment for healthy lifestyles and greatness in general. Working for this
company seemed like it would pull me away from some of these ideas, but this
just happened in a big way. So it remains to be seen whether I was just
succumbing to the necessity of getting my first paycheck ASAP or if there is
something more in this for me. From what I understand, I will be working in the
Health and Safety office where the focus is patient safety. That could mean a
whole deluge of things when it comes to pharmaceuticals, but I figure there is
no harm in finding out, and I'm intrigued that something so seemingly opposite of my interests would be thrown at me. I’ll be Administrative Assistant to the Executive
Director and two other Senior Directors, who were really very pleasant people
from what I experienced in our interview encounter.
So, I’m here to create what I want, wherever I find
myself. There will be real relationships built and real work done, and who
knows what else may come. I’m fantasizing that they’ll pay for my Masters of
Public Health – it wouldn’t be entirely outside of the Pharmaceutical Industry’s
realm of interests… a girl can dream.
I’m ready, New York. Now it’s time for some live blues
(my FAVORITE).
