Upon graduating college, I thought that I would find a job, get an apartment, and never have to do homework again. Unfortunately, I graduated in 2010 and lived in Buffalo. There were no jobs to be had. Instead, I did office work, hated everything, and scraped by every month working various temp jobs while trying to pay student loans without a steady paycheck. Not a fun time. Luckily, this motivated me to try to do anything else. I applied for the JET program, had a stellar application, got invited to interview, bought a fancy suit, and completely bombed the interview. I was placed on the alternates list, so I waited. And waited. And waited.
Around May 2011, I decided that I would apply to another program. I needed a job, and it didn't look like JET was going to pan out. I started filling out my application for a few different eikaiwa and ALT companies, hoping that I would be able to start in August or September. Then I got a really bad case of bronchitis and procrastinated until June or July before finally sending out my application. Needless to say, an August start was not going to happen.
Still, we already knew that I was a qualified candidate on paper, so I wasn't too surprised when I got a telephone interview. Luckily, it went much better than my JET interview, so I scheduled an in-person interview in Florida, since at the time I thought I would be moving in with my grandmother in the hope of finding a job.
So, I spent a month saying goodbye to all of my friends, got rid of all of my large furniture (the day before I left because I am a horrible procrastinator), packed all of my belongings and cat into my car, split up with my long-term boyfriend, and left for my mother's apartment for a few days so she could help me make the long drive to Florida.
This plan failed when she realized I was an emotional wreck and convinced me to stay with her. So, my cat and I moved in with my mother and her (very large) dog. Her apartment was 450 square feet. The cat and the dog hated each other, and I slept on the most uncomfortable futon in the history of ever and spent my days applying for every kind of job in NYC even though I would have had a two hour commute to work every day.
It was pretty dismal. And I didn't hear back from a single job. Still, I honestly was doing much better. Sure, the circumstances weren't ideal, but I had family to fall back on when I was upset about my lack of employment. And I had free food. Seriously.
My mom surprisingly found a job in Florida, so we actually ended up moving down to my grandmother's as initially planned. After applying for so many jobs and failing so miserably, I decided that if I did manage to find "a career job," I would take it and just not go back to Japan. Long-term unemployment in 20th/21st century America: killing hopes and dreams since 1929.
We ended up getting down here just in time for me to go to my scheduled interview. Months of disappointment had molded an apathetic and pessimistic attitude about getting a job and my procrastination really kicked in. Though I had initially planned a simple lesson plan a month in advance, I scrapped it the night before and completely changed topics. My sister was horrified. By that point, I'm certain she wanted me to get the job and go to Japan more than I did myself. That night went something like this:
2:00 AM
Sister: "So, are you ready for your interview?"
Me: "Meh."
Sister: "You're all set, right? You've had two months to get prepared."
Me: "Yeah, sure. I don't really like my presentation, though..."
Sister: "But it's done? So go to bed."
Me: "Actually..."
Sister: "Oh no."
Me: "I'm throwing this out. And starting over. Also, I need to fill out all of these forms and re-do my resume."
Sister: "What? Why?!"
Me: "Wanna chat until 5:30 when I have to start getting ready for the interview as I remake all of my visuals and hey, if a verb is a past participle, do I just say the 'to be' form is irregular, or is the whole thing irregular."
Sister: "I had so much hope for you..."
Me: "Right. I'll separate them, then."
Sister: "You are the worst."
