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Stuck in Monroe: a New York retrospective

Going to New York might have been the worst thing I could have done at this point in my life–now I hate everywhere else.

I experienced more cultural and financial diversity walking down one New York block than I have my entire life. You can walk 100 yards in any direction to appease any need. Don’t like driving, expensive gas or a car payment? No problem there. There was success everywhere; I was bumping shoulders with the best people in every industry.

Now I am back in Monroe.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate our small, highly unemployed city (or state), but NYC fit my personality, lifestyle and goals more than any other place I have ever been. Job opportunities seemed to be around every corner, along with a food vendor to grab a hotdog on the go.

I met journalists from The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and Time Out New York. I even met a journalist working for the NY Times and is only 24 years old– what have I been doing these past few years?

It was downright inspiring, but I did have a feeling of self-contempt at times. To see people my age doing so much in the Big Apple really put my life into perspective. That is where I need to be.

Being around inspiration, culture and success was a reminder of the payoff of being a poor college student juggling multiple jobs, school and bills. My new goal: make it back to NYC and stay for good.