I've flirted with blogs before, but now I think it could actually be interesting, as well as a useful and perhaps even cathartic activity for me. So let's start off with some background info on me and why I'm doing this...
The bottom line is, I'm 25, unemployed, and figuring out my new surroundings.
I got a BA in Management & Society from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008, couldn't find a great job out of school and heard about city planning from a professor during my senior year. So I applied to the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC, miraculously got in, and enrolled. I figured that giving the economy/job market two more years to rebound a little was a smart move (Nostradamus fail), plus in-state tuition is cheap so I wasn't digging a huge hole by pushing back a salary a few years. Oh, and I found the curriculum and professional field interesting!
Fast forward to May, 2010: I graduate. Awesome, I'm a master! A master of city planning. The resumes and cover letters had already been going out for a few months, but I wasn't worried. I went to the Grand Canyon with my parents, on a New England/Québec road trip with a grad school friend, another road trip to Colorado with my dad. Basically, I enjoyed my accomplishment.
Then at the end of July I had to move out of my apartment in Carrboro (Chapel Hill's hipper, little brother). I crammed all my junk into the two spare bedrooms - one referred to as, deep breath, "my room" - in my parent's house in Western North Carolina. I kept sending out applications; online, email attachments, fax, FedEx, even hand-delivered a few. I got an interview (great!) but no offer (bummer..) and kept my chin up. Every now and again I'd get a letter confirming I was not selected for an interview; this happened from about 1 in 4 places I applied to.
Eventually I was too depressed about being "that guy" who lives with his parents while unemployed. So I summoned the courage to move to Colorado, something I had wanted to do since undergrad. I packed my Subaru to the gills and booked a hotel for 2 weeks in Fort Collins. I found a place, moved in, and looked for work. And I mean all kinds of work. I applied to all the local retail stores. I applied to load UPS trucks at 3am. I applied to cut grass and inspect boats at a state park. And of course I applied to city planning jobs.
Then my landlords decided to move into the condo I was renting. So I found a new place - in the People's Republic of Boulder - and moved again. Which brings us pretty much up to date. I've still applied to all kinds of "whatever work" in addition to planning jobs, and my optimism has started to fade. And as I go on with my less than settled life, people often ask me "So, what do you do all day?"
It's a good question. I have LOTS of free time. Luckily there is also lots of stuff to do in Colorado, especially for someone who is new. This blog will be my answer to those questions. How can a person occupy themselves all day, everyday? For weeks and months? You can only sleep so many of those hours away (at least for me), so there's lots of time to fill with original life programing.
This isn't to say that until now I've been sitting around all day. I have been active in my over-abundant freedom since I made the Rocky Mountain leap. Since I graduated really. But hopefully now, through writing about what I do, I will be pushed to do even more and make the most of my pre-career sabbatical. Also, it would be nice if I had fun documenting it too, as I do like to write and take photos. And who knows, maybe I'll find out something about myself. As silly as that sounds.
In any regard.. to those few poor and likely bored souls who might actually spend time reading this, 1: you likely have too much free time as well & 2: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy some part of my journey.
Fast forward to May, 2010: I graduate. Awesome, I'm a master! A master of city planning. The resumes and cover letters had already been going out for a few months, but I wasn't worried. I went to the Grand Canyon with my parents, on a New England/Québec road trip with a grad school friend, another road trip to Colorado with my dad. Basically, I enjoyed my accomplishment.
Then at the end of July I had to move out of my apartment in Carrboro (Chapel Hill's hipper, little brother). I crammed all my junk into the two spare bedrooms - one referred to as, deep breath, "my room" - in my parent's house in Western North Carolina. I kept sending out applications; online, email attachments, fax, FedEx, even hand-delivered a few. I got an interview (great!) but no offer (bummer..) and kept my chin up. Every now and again I'd get a letter confirming I was not selected for an interview; this happened from about 1 in 4 places I applied to.
Eventually I was too depressed about being "that guy" who lives with his parents while unemployed. So I summoned the courage to move to Colorado, something I had wanted to do since undergrad. I packed my Subaru to the gills and booked a hotel for 2 weeks in Fort Collins. I found a place, moved in, and looked for work. And I mean all kinds of work. I applied to all the local retail stores. I applied to load UPS trucks at 3am. I applied to cut grass and inspect boats at a state park. And of course I applied to city planning jobs.
Then my landlords decided to move into the condo I was renting. So I found a new place - in the People's Republic of Boulder - and moved again. Which brings us pretty much up to date. I've still applied to all kinds of "whatever work" in addition to planning jobs, and my optimism has started to fade. And as I go on with my less than settled life, people often ask me "So, what do you do all day?"
It's a good question. I have LOTS of free time. Luckily there is also lots of stuff to do in Colorado, especially for someone who is new. This blog will be my answer to those questions. How can a person occupy themselves all day, everyday? For weeks and months? You can only sleep so many of those hours away (at least for me), so there's lots of time to fill with original life programing.
This isn't to say that until now I've been sitting around all day. I have been active in my over-abundant freedom since I made the Rocky Mountain leap. Since I graduated really. But hopefully now, through writing about what I do, I will be pushed to do even more and make the most of my pre-career sabbatical. Also, it would be nice if I had fun documenting it too, as I do like to write and take photos. And who knows, maybe I'll find out something about myself. As silly as that sounds.
In any regard.. to those few poor and likely bored souls who might actually spend time reading this, 1: you likely have too much free time as well & 2: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy some part of my journey.
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