A fresh start

I grew up on Islesboro, an island in Penobscot Bay, ME. Island life is simple by nature, one grocery store, one school, one post office, and that's it. If you need to go somewhere after the ferry stops running at 4pm, too bad. I had a graduating class of nine students, which is on the larger side for Islesboro Central School.  I am the middle child, with an older sister and younger brother. My mother grew up in Greenwich, CT, has her Masters degree in education, and is the Vice President of an international non-profit organization. My father, an emigrant from Mexico, works as a caretaker for the gilded-era palatial summer estates that Islesboro is well-known for. My parents have been married for 35 years.

After high school I moved to Boston, to study at Northeastern University. As a 16-year-old college freshman, I dove head first into my new city life. I made friends from all over the country and the world, I excelled in my Communications Studies classes, and I used a fake ID to attend 18+ nights at local nightclubs.

As part of the curriculum at Northeastern, I participated in the cooperative education program and spent three semesters working in the professional world. I worked at a public relations firm, drafting press releases and pitching editors. I worked at an e-commerce start up, and watched the company grow exponentially as I learned the ins and outs of Search Engine Optimization, Google Ad Words, and general product marketing. Lastly, I worked as a literary publicist, booking authors for nationwide speaking engagements and television appearances.

During college I also started working as a cocktail waitress to pay for my rent and other living expenses. Between work at the bar, and work for co-op, I soon felt pulled away from academic life. In my quest for independence, I equated disposable income with freedom, and focused less and less on college. One month into my senior year, I quit school and on a whim, moved to Miami, FL. In South Beach I experienced firsthand the challenges of autonomy, and the darker side of an otherwise glamorous locale. After a brief stint, I made the decision to move back to Boston.

I’ve been working as a bartender ever since. Although this is far from a passion of mine, without a college degree my employment options have been limited and I make a decent living. In fact, I make about twice as much as my graduated friends, who have struggled to find work in the midst of an economic recession.

I’m weary of getting “trapped” in the service industry, as so many of my colleagues have. We use the term “golden handcuffs” to describe the struggle between staying in a job that pays well at the expense of pursuing something more fulfilling. I don’t want to be a bartender forever. In fact, I don’t even want to be a 25 year old bartender so I’ve decided to go back to school and finish my degree.