EPTMaybe I should start by introducing myself, though those of you from UCSD likely already know me. I'm Marc and I'm 24. Nice to meet you!
I'll just cut to the chase and put down what's been occupying my thoughts. A lot of these will probably seem less dramatic to you guys than they do to me.
On March 7, I lost my job. I woke up, had breakfast, got ready, biked up the hill to work like I always did, got fired, and was back in my apartment a mere two hours after i'd left. It was deserved but completely unexpected. As a software developer, my job was to deliver projects on time, and in February I had failed to deliver on two straight projects, regardless of how hard I tried to make them work. So after a year at the little startup I was working for, that I had moved to in order to be able to be in the office every day (I can't drive), I was out, just like that.
For those of you who haven't had this happen to you, count yourselves lucky! There are few experiences that I can think of that can shake your confidence and sense of self-worth more than this. For those of you who have, I'm sorry and I hope you picked yourselves up better than I have.
Since then my life has changed a lot. I'm not employed yet. I've sent out more applications than I can count at this point, and interviewed at a few places, but so far none of them have worked out. Financially, I'm being forced to relocate from my very nice 1 bed / 1 bath apartment not only because I can't afford it, but also because it's located so far away from reliable public transportation that I'm cut off from the rest of San Diego, so I can't even make it to most interviews I'd want to get to.
The relocation process hasn't been going well. I need to be out of this apartment by the end of the month, and I've already had two places lined up that have fallen through. The first apartment I was going to sublet was given to someone else while I was in talks with the owner; I just found out a couple hours ago that I can't move into the second one I'd lined up because the property managers won't change the name on a lease with two months left on it. There are 4 days left in the month, and I'm running out of options. Tomorrow is really the last day I have to get something nailed down, and then I'll need to spend the following days finishing packing and moving. I'll also need to locate storage because I'm assuming that any options I come up with now will not have enough space for the furniture I currently own.
It's really fun being me right now, and surprisingly not everything about it is bad. Every day presents new challenges that I never thought I'd have to think about. I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about unemployment insurance and saving everything you can. I've learned how to cook and I'm eating healthier than I ever have. I'm improving my software and web development skills with the time I would have spent doing work at a job where I wasn't being trained anyway. Most of all, I've learned how resilient I am. I haven't broken down, gotten depressed, started drinking, contemplated suicide, or given up on myself. In a lot of ways, I'm learning how to be an adult more than I did in college, and more than I did in the year after graduation.
I want to leave you all with some sort of positive motivational message, but I don't think I need to - writing this was for my own sake. What I know is that the choices I make every day will shape how my life plays out. If I don't screw it up, maybe you'll hear from me again. Wish me luck!
