I read an article in CNN Money, which cited 80% of 2009 college graduates going straight back home to live with their parents. I’m one of these “boomerang kids;” we moved over our tassels then moved right back home to mom and pop. It’s not an ideal position, but I haven’t lost my pride… yet.
THE PERKS
- Saving money. Obviously, the free rent is a big plus, but I’ve recently realized just how much money I’m saving at home. It’s the little things; stamps, printer paper and ink, toothpaste, laundry detergent and toilet paper are all available to me at no cost. Those necessities are well stocked in an established home.
- Company. Even if you considered yourself pretty independent in college, you likely had roommates. It’s a completely different experience to live alone. I’ve known several people who tried and couldn’t take the solitude. Mom and dad may not be the perfect roommates, but I always have someone around to talk to and don’t have to be paranoid at night.
- Home cooking. I don’t eat at home every night, but having (southern) family meals available to me is another big money saver. Better than that, I get a nutritious meal (as opposed to all those Hot Pockets I was eating between classes), which helps me stay healthy. Illness is not conducive to productivity.
THE BUMMERS
- Feelings of shame. I’m not sure about the rest of you, but to me, there’s something a little depressing about a large, elegant diploma frame hanging in your childhood bedroom next to that “Most Likely to Succeed” plaque from high school and a pile of neglected Beanie Babies. I refuse to endure that kind of torture. My diploma has two options: my new apartment or my corner office.
- No privacy. In college, I became very accustomed to doing things my way and in my own time. Back at home, I’ve reverted back to disclosing my daily schedule and hoping for parental approval. You know what it’s like—checking in on your way home, letting your parents know if you’ll be out “too late.” Though they have lightened up a bit since high school, my parents know where I am almost all the time. It’s not the worst thing that could happen, but it’s not adulthood.
- Financial dependence. When someone has a financial stake in your actions, they have an opinion on everything. There’s nothing wrong with that in principle, but when mom tells me I can’t buy a Brita Pitcher with the money I earned, it does become a bit irritating. Parents seem to think you want to mooch off them your whole life. Incorrect! I would genuinely love to take over all my bills (and I’m making progress), but like most things in my life right now, it’s going to take time.
- The commute. Depending on where you find a place, this could be an issue regardless. For me, driving from my home in the suburbs into the city of Atlanta for work has done quite a number on my gas bill (not to mention my sanity in the midst of Atlanta rush hour).
THE SOLUTION
- Keep yourself busy. I have made it illogical to think of myself as a failure because I am constantly working both at my day job and on numerous freelance projects. Living with my parents doesn’t seem so shameful if I’m a contributing member of society.
- Set goals. Whether it’s finding an affordable apartment by November or saving up for an exercise machine, have something to work toward. Short-term, attainable goals are the best way to keep from feeling stagnant.
- Talk it out. After a few arguments, my parents and I sat down and had a little chat about my difficulty dealing with being back under their wing. We came up with a way to live compatibly in a way that meets their needs but still gives me space and relative independence.
- Remember, it’s only temporary. It’s hard to keep this in mind, especially when “temporary” remains an undefined span of time. Make moving out a priority. Don’t rush into it, but make sure it’s a long-term goal supported by your short-term decisions.
The transition has been difficult, but it helps to know a large majority of my peers are right here with me, searching for a place to hang that new diploma.
[To learn more about my post-grad exploits, visit my Web site.]
Scridb filter
Tagged as:
Atlanta,
Beth Farrar,
Gen Y
I don’t claim to be a graphic designer.
So when Stephanie Lloyd approached me with the Radiant Veracity logo project, I was nervous but also thrilled. I’ve been playing around in Photoshop for going on eight years now, so though I don’t claim graphic design in my formal training or expertise, my skills are not exactly at a novice level. Still, I had never designed a professional logo–at least not outside of a class project in the eleventh grade. Words cannot express how grateful I am that Stephanie (a) offered me the chance to try and (b) helped me along while remaining patient and supportive.
As I first began designing, Stephanie gave me complete freedom over which direction the logo would take. Daunting, right? So I downloaded 25 new fonts and started piecing together the most abstract text renderings of the words “Radiant Veracity,” trying to present as many different approaches as possible. I suppose I justified this as an attempt to make the logo unique, but Stephanie quickly reined me in to a more simplistic idea. (Thanks goodness!) She sent out a few links to logos she appreciated, many of which were still somewhat complex in perception but simple in form.
Drawing on my all my conceptual effort and teaching myself a few new Photoshop techniques, I created several more designs utilizing cutout shapes and the initials “RV.” However, after sifting through the newest proofs on the phone, we still didn’t seem to be quite there, but Stephanie continued to praise my progress.
Stephanie liked the idea of visually playing off the word “radiant” by incorporating stars, fireworks or some other reference to vivid light. She directed me to a few clip-art images online as reference points. I happened to be leaving for a family vacation around this time, but there simply isn’t time to take a complete vacation from work! To expedite the process, I ran to Target and bought a power inverter with which to plug my Macbook Pro straight into my car’s cigarette lighter. I was only slightly frightened by the loud whirring noise coming from the device and managed to churn out five more designs before reaching our destination.
The response from Stephanie read: “BETH! It’s one of these. I’m so excited! Awesome job.” We were both eagerly anticipating the arrival of the final logo. But as these things go, we ended up tweaking the design a bit more over lunch at Fuego Mundo before arriving at the logo you now see around Radiant Veracity’s different sites.
Though the process was long and, at times, strenuous, it was also extremely rewarding. It takes guts to hand a major project like this to an intern you’ve only known a few months, and let me tell you: it takes guts to accept. But we both took that risk and have both benefited. Stephanie has a logo. I have one more great experience to add to my professional endeavors and a slew of new skills to add to my repertoire.
• • •
The Evolution of the Radiant Veracity Logo
Scridb filter Tagged as:
Beth Farrar,
Design,
Gen Y,
Radiant Veracity,
Stephanie A. Lloyd
Introducing two new members of the Radiant Veracity team: Stephanie Perrett and Beth Farrar (from left to right) are currently working with Stephanie Lloyd as two of three communications interns. One of their weekly intern assignments is to chronicle their experiences as a regular blog series on Radiant Veracity. As recent college graduates and active job seekers, topics will range from how they met (they’ve been friends for two years) to their weekly assignments, victories and struggles. The following is their fourth part in the series.
For lack of a better word, Beth and Stephanie were stoked to be working together at Radiant Veracity. We already knew of each other’s creative and professional capabilities and felt that we would work well together. Wherever one would lack, the other would be well suited to take over. Plus, we already had a comfortable relationship, where we could bounce ideas off each other and provide honest criticism. (We’re getting sappy here, but can’t you tell how excited we were to work together? It was a match made in Heaven!)
Prior to our first meeting with Stephanie Lloyd, Beth and Stephanie P. spent hours on the phone together – still in awe about the odds of applying for and getting the same internship – brainstorming new ideas for Radiant Veracity. Wanting to further the conversation (and single handedly save the Planet) we decided to carpool to Pizzeria Venti for their first official meeting with Stephanie L.
Here’s where we would like to pause to reiterate how important it is to leave early for a professional meeting, job interview, etc. Put two female friends who haven’t seen each other in months – who don’t know their way around Atlanta very well – in a car with a faulty GPS system, and you’re just setting yourself up for disaster. Even if this doesn’t describe you, you should leave yourself plenty of time to get to your destination anyways.
By the grace of God, Beth and Stephanie P. arrived in Buckhead 30 minutes early – long enough to peruse the nearby shops (Beth’s hand was nearly chewed off by a disgruntled dog in one of the stores) and stop in for our first experience at a juice bar across the street (celery and eggplant juice anyone?). Finally time for the appointment with Stephanie L., the two ladies entered Pizzeria Venti (a lovely establishment serving delicious pizza, drinks and gelato, which is also owned and operated by the adorable Lackey couple. Follow them on Twitter: @PVATL. Shameless plug.)
Stephanie L. was finishing up a meeting with Stephanie Frost – another smart, independent entrepreneurial-minded woman – and the four women instantly began talking as if they had been friends for years. In fact, Beth, Stephanie P. and Stephanie F. had all studied abroad at The University of Oxford and had to literally force themselves to stop sharing stories of English professors and pubs so they could all get to work.
If it’s at all possible, the meeting with the new and improved Radiant Veracity team energized Beth, Stephanie P. and Stephanie L. even further. With all the great things already lined up for Stephanie L. and Radiant Veracity along with all the new epiphanies at Pizzeria Venti, there was no shortage of work to be done.
Moral of the Story: Carpool. Plan to be early. Make mutually beneficial partnerships/friendships with other companies, etc.. Be prepared: business cards, something to write w/, proper attired. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Make a personal connection.
[Stephanie Lloyd here] Stay tuned to learn more about Stephanie and Beth’s internship adventures! Future installments include:
- “Join the Circus” – getting to work, juggling other commitments
- Networking – Our First Tweetup
- Stephanie P. – My Experience on Gravity Free Radio
- Beth Farrar – Developing the Radiant Veracity Logo
Scridb filter Tagged as:
Beth Farrar,
Do you want this job or not,
Gen Y,
I need a job,
Internship,
Interviewing,
Stephanie A. Lloyd,
Stephanie Frost,
Stephanie Perrett,
We need a few more Stephanies around here
Introducing two new members of the Radiant Veracity team: Stephanie Perrett and Beth Farrar (from left to right) are currently working with Stephanie Lloyd as two of three communications interns. One of their weekly intern assignments is to chronicle their experiences as a regular blog series on Radiant Veracity. As recent college graduates and active job seekers, topics will range from how they met (they’ve been friends for two years) to their weekly assignments, victories and struggles. The following is their third part in the series.
We left our series as Beth and Stephanie were anxiously anticipating their individual phone interviews with Stephanie Lloyd to be the newest (and first-ever) interns at Radiant Veracity. Good friends from college, Beth and Stephanie had both responded to a Tweet from Stephanie Lloyd, requesting help with her entrepreneurial endeavors. Stephanie P., not wanting to steal a job opportunity away from Beth, decided not to tell Beth that she was interviewing for the position as well. Less than a week after the initial Tweet, Beth and Stephanie P. spoke individually over the phone with Stephanie L. about the opportunity.
For Stephanie P., the phone interview went seamlessly. In fact, the term “interview” doesn’t even properly describe the conversation that Stephanie P. and Stephanie L. had that Wednesday. After following each other on Twitter for months now, it seemed as if the two had already met, making the conversation comfortable and casual. Stephanie L. briefed Stephanie P. on her company, Radiant Veracity, as well as her other endeavors– highlighting the areas in which she needed the most help. Stephanie P. formally introduced herself, her skills and her career expectations – agreeing that she would be willing to help Stephanie L. wherever needed.
The fantastic thing about the conversation: The two women’s honesty with each other.
Stephanie P. (without trying to seem too desperate) relayed her struggles with being a recent communications graduate in a tough economy. Stephanie L. relayed her inability to pay an intern, but also added that she believed the internship would pay in non-conventional ways (i.e. networking, attending job search interventions at no cost, etc.). Both Stephanie’s agreed that the position was part-time and the importance that Stephanie P. not only network and build her portfolio, but find a full-time career – as well as helping with Stephanie Lloyd’s business.
Beth had much the same experience a day later. All her anxieties were immediately put to ease as she and Stephanie L. began laughing and joking moments after the phone stopped ringing. Both remarked on the state of the job market and how interesting it is to see more and more graduates taking intern positions to gain experience and build their professional network.
It was obvious from the outset of the conversation that Stephanie L. firmly believed in creating a mutually beneficial arrangement among herself her interns–each helping the other whenever possible. It was refreshing for Beth to encounter an employer with drive and creativity, but also flexibility, humor and sincerity.
At one point, Stephanie L. mentioned a meeting she had set-up with another Stephanie later in the week (Stephanie Frost), and she went on to question how Beth and Stephanie had previously met. Major confusion set in as Beth frantically racked her brain as to how she might know this particular Stephanie. With all the Stephanie’s in and around the Radiant Veracity family, it’s easy to see how a newcomer would be at a slight loss, but other, more mysterious forces were definitely at work here.
Quite a few jumbled words were exchanged before the name “Perrett” was finally slipped in some small pause. It would be an understatement to say that Beth was shocked. After sitting next to each other at the University of Georgia graduation ceremony in May, Beth and Stephanie P. hadn’t found a chance to catch up at all until now…when they had applied for the same internship. We won’t even try to calculate the odds.
After a few follow-up phone calls, Beth finally pieced together the whole story, and Stephanie L.’s first two interns were primed and thoroughly excited for the face-to-face planning meeting scheduled at the end of the same week.
Moral of the Story: Be yourself. Don’t steal opportunities from your friends (or at least be nice about it). Be flexible. Ensure your job opportunities are mutually beneficial and that you’re comfortable with them. Be honest. Find opportunities you’re excited about.
[Stephanie Lloyd here] Stay tuned to learn more about Stephanie and Beth’s internship adventures! Future installments include:
- “Three Stephanies, Beth and a Pizza Place” – the meeting at Pizzeria Venti
- “Join the Circus” – Getting to Work, Juggling Other Commitments
- Networking – Our First Tweetup
- Stephanie P. – My Experience on Gravity Free Radio
- Beth Farrar – Developing the Radiant Veracity Logo
Scridb filter Tagged as:
Atlanta,
Beth Farrar,
Gen Y,
Internship,
Interviewing,
Phone Interviews,
Stephanie A. Lloyd,
Stephanie Frost,
Stephanie Perrett,
We need a few more Stephanies around here
