Just Post Grad Things, JustRachel

Clothing Optional

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I have always worked for small companies, gone to small schools, and kept to tight-knit groups. In a way, I always knew I wanted to start my own business, band, or vigilante crime-fighting squad. But age or prowess always kept that out of reach.

Today, I Say, No More!

This upcoming year, Awkward N Adulting will be hiring more voices, creating more content, and developing some sick swag with fellow local artists.

In the past year, we have seen a rise in young voices. People who stood up to violence and prejudice and injustice. This year we saw empowerment in a way that our nation has not seen in a while.

As young people it is our duty to stand up, stand out and be true to ourselves, and there is no better way to do that than to be utterly awkward.

This isn’t a Resolution it’s a Revolution

With help from our readers we hope to reach more awkward adults than ever before, allowing everyone to have more of a voice.

Our hope in the upcoming year is that you will follow along with us on our journey so that we may all stand a little taller and glow a little brighter.

Join Us

If you feel that you have a voice you want to share, a talent you want to cultivate, or if you are just generally stoked for us to come out with hoodies and tees. Comment below. Tell us what you want and need in 2019 and we will do our best to make it happen.

#ClothingOptional

By using the # in the comments below or on our instagram you will be letting us know that you are interested in the brand we plan to create. Spread the word by sharing the #.

This year is going to be awkward…

But at the end of the day – would you want it any other way?

Just Post Grad Things, JustRachel

Don’t Expect, Just Wait.

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Holidays are notorious for relationship questionnaires. I, on the other hand, am notorious for being single. But that kinda sucks.

As much as I’d love my life to be a romantic comedy, that just isn’t realistic. And the idea that at 22 we are supposed to have it figured out is crap.

The idea that people find love by now is magical, but I’m a muggle and it’s not in my cards. So, thus, I remain alone, single and trying to find my way.

Don’t get me wrong I like (love) being Independent, but I’d also like someone to love. The idea that we “don’t have time for love” is bull though, because I have time, just not to waste.

At the end of the day we make the time for that which we want and believe in. And me? Well I just wish I had time, more time, to follow my heart.

At the end of the day they tell us not to expect love, not to wait for love but to let it come. But me, well I guess I’m just over waiting for the love when I would rather walk for happiness.

Kevin at a Desk

Oh, What a Year!

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As 2018 only has about a few days left and 2019 can now be seen on the horizon, humanity begins a sort of reflection period. We are entering a phase where we look back on the events that shaped 2018 into a year that no one has seen in recent history. We celebrate our success, mourn our losses, and count our blessings as 2018 comes to an end and we skid right into 2019. Now is the time to look back on what we have done during this year and see where our journey in life has taken us so far. I think when we begin to look back, we really start to ask the hard questions to ourselves.

Did i do everything that i wanted this year? What went wrong for me this year? How could i lose contact with him/her? Could i have avoided that heartbreak? Why Was i ever friends with them? Was i a good person? Could  i have done more?

i say we should step back from the questions and be more pensive as 2019 comes around the corner. We should reflect from where we began our journey almost 365 days ago to where we have stopped so to speak for the time being. You have never been so different in your life, why not enjoy the reflection for once? You have created  so many changes and either good or bad, they are what made the 2018 version of you so special

i hear on many occasions people talking about whether they had a good or bad year.  Now, there are good moments of the years where everything is going well and are luck would even make us consider that we won the lottery in life. Then there are the parts of the years where we could not catch our breath, where nothing broke our way and we are down on our luck. i like to think its not a matter of good or bad, more of how we recovered from the valleys to the peaks of the year. These influxes happen, its just a part of life. What happens when we are in the valleys of the year create the greatest peaks in the successes of the year.

What i consider the best part of December is that you get the time to reflect on all these things. You get to enjoy a toast to your successes that have created the best moments. We  are able to take a moment an remember all the bad times, the very bad terrible times we had in the year. We can remember the people we lost to the times and remember why we loved them so much. Each year, you pay a toll to go through the year, you might as well enjoy what you have paid for.

During this time of reflection, i hope you get to enjoy all your successes and learn from your failures. Be happy with your loved ones around you and remember those who have left us. If this was a good year, i hope you ride that wave of success again and if this wasn’t your year just know that every New Years Eve everything gets reset you start fresh like a regeneration. You never know, maybe this is the year everything comes together.

So as we enjoy the few days left of 2018, lets raise our glasses in hope of a happy and healthy 2019. 

I cant wait to see what is in store for us.

Journals by Jess, Just Post Grad Things

Five Year Reunion

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November 6: I texted Lylly before the crack of dawn.  Overnight, the Facebook invitation finally arrived.  Our five year reunion was scheduled for the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.  Lylly (pronounced Lily) is the only person from my graduating class of twenty-two people that I still talk to on a regular basis. Unfortunately, she says she will be in Maine, so I decide I won’t attend.

November 7: I tell my mom that I have been invited to my five year reunion.  She says it will be fun and that I should at least make an appearance.  Who knew my mom would ever be the one talking me into going to a trashy bar?

November 24: The invitation says 9:00, but I show up around 9:45.  I decide to be fashionably late because I am attending a concert with my parents down the street.  I am able to sneak out at intermission and they will give me an out when they have to pick me up.  My dad walks me down the street to the bar because he doesn’t trust the area, which I don’t complain about because frankly, neither do when I’m walking alone at night.

When I arrive, people are surprised to see me, probably because I checked off “Maybe” on the Facebook invite.  I recognize that being a flake is my tragic flaw, so I never say “Yes” unless I am enthusiastic about attending.  I see my old teammates from cheerleading, a friend I have known since kindergarten, the girl who I went to the same college as, and my ex-boyfriend. I speak to them in that order.

I order a hard cider and put my coat down.  I chat with a few people and we go over the details of our lives.  Only seven other people are there, making for a small gathering, but it is intimate and I don’t mind that at all.  It is quiet and fun to catch up, but within a few minutes I’m uncomfortable.

The gossip is beginning, and while I normally love to indulge, I simply cannot keep up.  Everyone at the reunion except for myself and one other person (who mentioned her plans to move back) still live in the area.  I am hearing names I haven’t heard in years and cannot put faces to them.  I am updated on the lives of strangers.  Who are these mystery people?  Occasionally, old classmates are brought up–some in a negative light and others positively, but I hear so much about people I don’t know.  I stand awkwardly in the circle, realizing I have sipped my drink nearly every time I have felt out of place.

It has only been about half an hour and I can’t leave yet.  I decide to go over to the bar.  My ex is sitting separate from this circle.  I order a water and grab his attention.

Our relationship was one of the highlights of my high school experience.  I say this because he was one of my best friends.  We were friends before we dated and when we started going out, nothing changed.  Our relationship, although labeled as romantic, was platonic.  There was almost nothing physical and that is including the innocent kiss or holding hands.  I never really figured out why it was like this, but I have no complaints. We drifted apart when we went to college and broke up a few weeks in.  I don’t regret anything but the fact that we hadn’t spoken in five years.

When we talked, it was as if no time had passed.  We picked up right where we left off.  I felt comfortable with him.  I laughed with him and we talked about our lives.  He was the only one I was truthful with about my current employment situation–he was the only one I would want to know.  I told him about my quarter-life crisis and I told him about this blog.  I spent the rest of the night talking to him and it was so natural.  I missed those years of friendship and we made up for it.

The song “Africa” came on and he said he was surprised because that was what he would usually play on the jukebox.  I told him how my boyfriend and his brothers always do a shot of tequila when they hear the song.  He said we should do tequila shots, but we settled for Dr. McGillicuddy’s.  I was being picked up by my parents after all– I didn’t need to smell like a 21st birthday party.

At the end of the night (which for me was somewhere around 10:30) my dad came into the bar to pick me up.  For anyone else this would be mortifying, but my dad was the basketball coach so my classmates were happy to see him.  I said goodbye, hugged all the girls and my ex, and walked to the car with my dad.

There’s a certain pressure to look like our best selves seeing people from our  past.  I did not tell anyone that I had quit my terrible job or that I was going through a rough time.  I wore a cute outfit that made me look skinny, despite gaining about ten pounds since high school.  I wanted to be my best–be the one that moved away and came back more confident and successful than ever.  This was not my case but I was able to have one moment of honesty.  Part of being honest with ourselves and with others is getting past the awkward and embracing our failures… even if we only admit them to one person.

Kevin at a Desk

‘Tis the Season

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As the holiday season for many people goes into full throttle, we are reminded of what happens around this time. We skip the turkey and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving to get out in line before the sun comes up to get the best deals on that TV or gaming console we have been dreaming for ourselves. The materialistic narcissism takes over, even the best of us for the twenty something days leading up to the holidays. Its a competition to see who got the best, expensive, or the shiniest gift money can buy.

This is one of the reasons i have stopped enjoying the holiday season.

What ever happened to enjoy the TV specials like Rudolph, A Christmas Story, A Rugrats Hanukkah or my personal favorite; A Charlie Brown Christmas? Why can’t we enjoy the baking of cookies or festive treats for the holidays with family instead of going out constantly to a shopping mall and arguing about buying items? Where did the days of yule logs and egg nog go? Why do we value the dollar more than the value of time? Why are the holidays a chore?

i can’t figure this out each year when the holidays roll around again.

In my recent memory, one of the things that comes with the holiday season is finding the perfect gift. Even tho i am young, i have ceased the idea of finding the perfect gift for someone, the perfect gift does not have the color of green money if you haven’t figured that out yet. What i have started is to give gifts that have no value to them, no price tag or sale attached. These gifts are what we really need in this world, these gifts are the ones that are valued throughout the years, it doesn’t even collect dust on a shelf. I just give the simple gift of caring. Now you must be wondering what that means, well its very basic. I give the thing that seems to me missing in the holiday season. Whether it is coming home to help with some lawn work or cut a limb off a tree for my dad, to the late night phone calls with friends after a rough day. Showing you care during this season, it can mean the world to someone. Study’s show that with the demanding nature the holidays have along with those who do not have anyone to celebrate it with. Creating a black hole within the holiday cheer. We can change this, we just need to start where the basics lay, by caring about our fellow humans.

This holiday season, no matter what faith you practice or what your family situation is, reach out to your fellow human beings that may be stressed or are alone. It only takes a phone call or a text to invite them over for dinner on Christmas or for them to celebrate a whole new celebration and traditions within Hanukkah. Even if you don’t celebrate traditionally or at all, make your own traditions and holiday fun on something you want to do. Just because we come from different scriptures or beliefs should not create a wall between the prevention of stress and loneliness. By inviting someone in to not be alone you are practicing what you preach, you are doing good. So as i try to spread a cause for caring this season within my social groups and family, i ask you stop the shopping, stop the over done practices of lights and flashy things and try to spread compassionate vibes to show you care.

By Showing that you care for thy neighbor, family and friends it makes this holiday just a dash brighter for everyone. 

 

Just Post Grad Things, JustRachel

First. Forgotten. Forgiven

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They say you never forget your first 

and while that may be a blanket statement, whoever “they” are… 

well, I guess they kind of know what they’re talking about.

First and Foremost (a list)

Your first pet – The one you sang to when she cried, when she was hurt or scared – she was your world, and she loved Spanish lullabies and having her die in your arms was one of the most painful feelings in the world.

Your first dance – with that weird boy from gym class or the family friend that took pity on you because your mom or his mom told them to ask you to dance.

The first person to give you flowers – my mom, I was 16, it was my birthday and no one could have orchestrated it better.

The first one you let get away – probably the best for all involved in that one.

your first kiss – mine had red hair, the whole faculty saw, and oddly enough it was and still is the best kiss I’ve ever had – or at the very least it makes top five.

Your first date – we saw iron man 3, he wore a blue v neck and we finished the night on my porch after having ice cream that he had kept in a cooler in his car (beyond romantic) and he didn’t kiss me that night but part of me wishes he did.

Your first love – I was in the first grade, his name was Logan (like Lerman or Hugh Jackman when he played Wolverine in X-Men) and he wasn’t out of my league by any means but boy did I think he was. None the less it was unrequited and vastly problematic.

Your first car – Kia Sol, Green exterior (yes really), name : Martin the Martian

Your first lover – the one you still think about but wish you didn’t.

Your first home – or apartment but either way you were paying rent for that dinky old place.

Your first job – camp. Duh.

And the list goes on and on because we measure our lives and histories in the memories of doing things for the first time. And because no one gets credit for doing something second.

but there is a pitfall to expecting every first to be great – to grabbing memories from a bag of “firsts” and comparing them to everything else

And it is the pitfall that I personally have a problem with – it’s the idea that we are or are not supposed to experience things based on the number of times it has been done. I mean think about it.

  • birthdays – the FIRST day of that new year, where you are also celebrating the FIRST day you were on earth… because comparatively, conception day is irrelevant, first heartbeat day no one has pictures from and when you finally looked like a gourd in the womb rather than an avocado – well… you get the point.
  • relationships – we remember the first because it had the most impact – but then we still carry it with us through the best relationships, unable to release that point of reference.
  • school – we celebrate first days, but what about every other day you worked and suffered and toiled through to get that first diploma? 

and look i am not saying we need to forget firsts – but we could try forgiving ourselves for all the seconds and thirds we take for granted. 

  • the second bite of cake and the fifteenth you probably shouldn’t have pushed for. 
  • the second day in a row you made it to the gym.
  • the second promotion that lead to your first fire and ultimately got you to your dream job. 
  • the second love – whether it was a person or a passion, the one you forgot after the fourth broke your heart and the fifth who proposed. 

The point of it all is that everything that comes after that first – no matter how much the first taught you – is just as important. And at the end of the day, I will always remember my firsts, my first pet, my first love, my first kiss – but I will also remember that the first wasn’t the thing that made me who I am today, but everything and every day in between was – and that my friends, has made all the difference.

JustRachel

An Ode to The Greatest Showman Soundtrack

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I will confess I am only mildly obsessed with the sweet sound of Hugh Jackman and his iconic band of  “Misfits”. and that the lines


I am not a stranger to the dark
“Hide away,” they say
“‘Cause we don’t want your broken parts”
I’ve learned to be ashamed of all my scars
“Run away,” they say
“No one’ll love you as you are”

The Greatest Showman – This is Me

get me every damn time …

I will confess that there is no way people on the original soundtrack – or the remastered one can be that incredibly talented… but I’ve also been caught watching golden buzzer moments from America’s Got Talent, where twelve-year-olds have more talent in one finger than I do in my whole damn body. 

That being said…

Few moments in history hold us to the same effect that music does – for example, I remember listening to Jay-Sean’s “Down” on the bus home from school in seventh grade more than I remember listening to my parents speak at the dinner table. I remember the car I was in and who I was with the first time I heard “Call Me Maybe”, and to this day Paramore’s “Still Into You” and Clean Bandit, “Rather Be” are still the tracks I think of when pulling into the drive of my families cabin – because despite the fact that I have heard millions of songs on the ride up there  since before I was born – those are the songs I remember being able to drive on my own to.

Music no matter how popular in the moment, no matter how fleeting – certain music has the power to bring us back to the exact moment where that one song meant the most to us. 

While my middle school slow dance song will forever be Chris Brown’s “With You”, because I may not have gotten the guy but… great song.

While my junior year of high school would not be complete without “Come and Get It” by Selena Gomez or Taylor Swift”s Red album at cross country practice – and I wouldn’t have survived Dealware’s flattest course without Fighter by Ryan Tedder – I know that my life and those of so many have added the songs from “The Greatest Showman” to their own personal soundtrack

all the shine of a thousand spotlights; all the stars we steal from the night sky will never be enough – will never be enough.


– Never Enough, The Greatest Showman

Few stories have the power to sweep us away – we read books, bad news, good news and watch movies to chase these feelings but for most of us and no pun intended it is “never enough.” and to that I applaud you. I applaud you for not settling – for being brave enough to chase dreams like kids chase ice cream trucks. 

I dare you to be great, to make your show great, and to know what matters both now and forever – because it may never be enough. But with you at the Helm, as the Captain of your ship – I can say for a fact that this life, your life, is your Greatest Show.

Just Post Grad Things

When the 1% Takes a Turn For the Worst – Looking at the 1% Drop in Life Expectancy

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In the past week, reports shared by news outlets like the Boston Globe, USA Today and MSN are supporting the claims that suicide and drug overdoses have become so much of an epidemic that they have lowered the countries life expectancy by 1% – further ruining the countries life expectancy average for the third year in a row since the peak of the AIDS epidemic in 1993. The problem however is that this is not the cry for help, but rather the result of a child left crying in its crib with no parent in sight.

With bullying rates growing rapidly in the past decade, an increase of suicide in young children and adults was not far behind – in fact, I must be seeing at least three obituaries a week these days.  and similarly, drugs, which have become more accessible have pushed the public past a threshold to the point where it is currently and continually effecting the average house hold but until now, until the 1% was knocked off the top of our nationally recognized number, we barely touched the issue. 

To put this into perspective in 1789, when the United States constitution became active, it promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – baring some beliefs on civil liberties, and egregious mistakes made by certain administrations since then, life became the most important promise our mothers and forefathers could have bestowed upon us – but 224 years later, despite advancements in fields like technology and health, not to mention the growing acknowledgement of mental illness as a national issue the worst time to be born into the Modern United States is right now.

And why is that you may ask – well because unlike the three waves of Cholera that hit the country between 1832-1866, or the “Spanish Flu,” which claimed the lives of 1 million Americans in 1918 following the end of the first world war – this epidemic is not derived from a bacteria that can be cured but rather stems from either a mental illness that affects 18.1% of the population per year (depression) or an illness that affects 23.5 million people (drug or alcohol addition) per year – and keep in mind these are only the reported cases. So who knows how many more go un-noticed and un-treated.

So for me the real question is – why now? Why are we finally reporting on something, why are we finally talking about this across every news outlet in the country – when this issue has been growing for fifty years? (MSN) Well, I guess it just speaks to the fact that everything is more interesting when you  consider the top 1% – even if that percentage is something that has been sacrificed from a national life expectancy.

Just Post Grad Things, JustRachel

It isn’t about Looks

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Some hypothesize that attractive people benefit from their looks – and while it would be ignorant to outright declare that wrong – it is also completely wrong to assume that looks grant total liability on your entire life’s successes.

Today one of the most detrimental things to say to a young woman or girl is that she is beautiful. Part of this is because no one wants to be one thing or labeled as simply beautiful. In other words a young woman dares to be intelligent, strong, and beautiful. 

Considering the controversy it is also important to talk about beauty not only as a weakness but as a theoretical strength.  Truth is, as a woman, some assume that looks can give an extra nudge toward landing that ideal position – but that only gets you so far. Women in today’s workforce have to be strong, intelligent, stubborn but not difficult, and powerful to land a job – so while looks may come into play (if they do) the way one carries herself is what determines the roles she will play in business.

Here are three tips to rock an interview and be remembered –

  1. Dress the part – I was in an interview once and my bandeau fell down half way through, my interviewer did not notice (thank heavens) but wearing something that makes you confident and keeps you covered is key.
  2. Walk in with a purpose – know the role you are interviewing for, be confident and most importantly, be yourself. Despite what we are made to think – they are not hiring your resume… they are hiring you!
  3. Ditch the heavy makeup, go more natural – how you look matters but being comfortable and competent doesn’t mean having a face that doesn’t match the rest of your body. trust your skills rather than your looks.

Keeping these tips in mind I have a challenge for all my ladies and even my mans this week. Whether you are working or in school or looking for a job this week – enter everyday with confidence. Walk into class or work or an interview with a smile that lights up the room, embrace bravery rather than beauty and remind yourself how amazing you are. 

At the end of the day, the world may be trying to label us – but we are so much more than what they see on the outside. Act with integrity and be yourself – because beauty may only skin deep but you are much more incredible than that.

Kevin at a Desk

To the Forgotten

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To the people who we have forgotten in time

The men and women of this world who once made a mark,

yet their light has become noting more than a broken bulb.

The deeds they have done, both the good and the evil.

None exist to the daily eye; none remembered, just a ghost of a memory.

These ghosts were remembered once

Remembered for what they did, what they once were

Now only oxidized bronze know their names.

 

Ever since i was a child i have felt sorry for these people,

but what i realize is that it is a list that has not ceased 

growing with the times.

The only difference is, now i know those names, those faces

Yet everyone around me shows the signs of letting them go.

We say we shall always remember but what happens when hey forget?

Another nail in the coffin, another death?

 

So take this time, this moment of the hour

To look at the closest street sign with the golden names

The yearbooks with the dusty devotions to the departed

The cookie cutter stones with a face carved in words

The memories that maketh man

Admire their dreams even if they are never to come true

For one day you shall join the forgotten as will i

but that does not mean the end, it just means we have done all we can

 

So, cheers to the forgotten

I hope one day someone rediscovers you,

just i as would want for my own Self. 

 

 

 

 

Kevin at a Desk

Family Does Not Last Forever

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Thanksgiving is around the corner, many families will gather to celebrate the joyful time of being together. Where the little ones will be watching the parade with Grandma and Grandpa and seeing the big floats go by. Where many will sit around the table, sharing a meal  and recounting the joy of being together and how thankful they are to have that Aunt Susie or Uncle Tom in their life. Life would be so grand.

This is a Hallmark illusion

The fact of the matter is that not all families are perfect. Some have uncles and aunts who don’t know where the line ends and that it doesn’t bend for egotistical ideologies during the holidays. Some grandparents want the holidays to be a catered dinner where they are the star of the show, even tho their isn’t an audience to feed them what they want. The illusion of families being perfect for the holidays where every grudge and nasty deed preformed in the year gets put aside for one day is a dream that only a child could conjure up. I like to think when we start our own families that we aspire to this ideal but do not let it takeaway reality of what goes on in the world.  Families are not perfect.

I can remember from my own personal experiences of how thanksgiving use to be for my family. It was always a rush to eat so everyone could go up to my uncles for desert and drinks. My mother would be so stressed to cook, clean and be up there that it ruined the holidays for her. She catered to some that would never be grateful for her work like i was. Going to my uncles wasn’t that great either; always stuck at the kids table, always the butt of a joke, never an enjoyable time no matter the holiday. This was coming from a 12 year old kid who could see through the stress that was piled up on my parents to put on a meal just so everyone could go get hammered at a house of nightmares. I still cant stand my family, but i decided that family doesn’t have to mean they are a part of my holidays.

Ever since freshman year of college, we have not invited family over to dinner and we have only gone to one place afterwords, but it is nothing that would leave a stress mark on my mind. We hang out at houses and even with the newest trend of “Friendsgiving” we get to be with friends from near and far to celebrate each other during this time for thanks. Holidays have become more enjoyable since we focused more on who really makes up our family. My mother will always take a moment during the dinner to show the fact that she can finally enjoy the holidays once more, something i think should never be overlooked.

In my opinion, family are the ones who stand by you in the good the bad and the ugly, they are the people who lean on you and you lean right back when needed, they never have to be blood but they damn sure feel like it. This is why we still invite people over. We still have a standing invitation for anyone from either work, school or anywhere in between to join us for a holiday meal if they have no place to go. In the years since some have taken up the offer and really add an enjoyable tone to the dinner. Less stress for mom is always a plus as well.

I guess that what i am trying to convey is the fact that even tho you have family members doesn’t mean they are family. The real family you have are those who you deem worthy of having the title of “Uncle”,  “Aunt” or any other title you like to give. People say you cant pick your family, i say different. If anything you cant pick the good ones but you chip away the bad ones.

Holidays are meant for peace on earth and good will towards all.

Its OK to make some man made peace yourself.

 

Journals by Jess

I’m Financially Responsible. Why Don’t You Believe Me?

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I went for a walk the other day.  I told myself it was to save money on gas or to get some exercise, but it was most likely to clear my mind.  I walked in the pouring rain with my polka dot umbrella to the library.  I had one mission in mind: get the money that was owed to me, but more on that later.

I put on my junkiest sneakers and walked through puddles to get to my destination.  As much as I felt that my environment could be perfectly complimented with the background music of Animal Crossing, I decided to opt out of music for two reasons: my road has twists and turns and I have to listen for cars and I wanted to be alone with my thoughts about money and the like.

My first stop was the library.  Earlier that day I had written a letter to my former employer.  I paid for my health insurance for the past three months but my paperwork was never submitted.  After some phone tag with my doctor and insurance company, I learned I had paid over four hundred dollars and received no coverage.  I wrote a stern letter and walked into the library, somehow sopping wet despite the umbrella, and printed it at the computers available.  I do not own a printer because it is almost never necessary to print my documents, but this was different because I decided to get this letter notarized.

Of course, I had to look up what a notary public actually does and what their purpose was before I went through with this.  Part of this wonderful adulting adventure is figuring out these things as they become necessary. After my trip to the library, I walked to the town hall and signed my strongly worded letter in front of a notary public who then stamped and signed it, verifying that I was the signer and that there had been a witness present.  Some may ask why I went through such trouble, but to that my answer is simple.

As twenty-somethings, the world knows it can screw us over when it comes to finances.  Really, how often do you check your bank account and go through every charge on your debit card?  I certainly do but not as often as I should.  From the moment we sign up for student loans at eighteen years old, we are expected to dive into the financial world while understanding very little about it.  My highest loan rate is currently at a whopping 7.2%.  When I bought my first car six months ago (alone, without a “real” adult or a man as my parents had always advised) the dealer came to me offering a 3.9% interest rate on my new car.  I told them 0.9% or I would walk.  When I said this, they frankly told me that I couldn’t possibly have a credit score worthy of that percentage.  As they explained this, I pulled up my account showing my high credit score.  Luckily I got what I wanted after they ran the numbers.  I was twenty two years old.  The car dealers never expected my finances to be in order.  We have a responsibility to be more aware about our money because so often we can be cheated out of it.

After having my letter notarized and brought it to the post office.  I sent off my letter formally requesting the $441 dollars that my employer owes me.  I felt good about what I had done and reflected on this as I walked the mile home.

I wish I could say that was the end of the story.  I wish I could say I was reimbursed the amount that I requested.  Instead, I found in my next direct deposit (what should have been my last paycheck) was missing $441.  I am now owed $882.  So here I am, waiting for my money, all set to write another letter on Monday, print it at the library, have it notarized, and mail it out again.

I went on a walk to clear my head from financial stress and perhaps to save a little gas money.  I went on a walk because I was angry and I knew the fresh air would be good for me.  My little adventure unfortunately reminded me how easy it is to be taken advantage of financially.  My advice is to stay aware and alert, to fight back when you are owed money and to fight harder when it is owed to you by someone in a position of power.  My advice is to stay vigilant, but to take that walk in the rain when you need to get money off your mind.

We’re all just Awkward n' Adulting.