The First Year

The past year has been an incredible experience. It was definitely the hardest year for me personally. You’ll have to take that with a grain of salt, however, because I had a pretty easy life before hand. I never lived outside a 15 mile radius (that I can remember consciously), so it was definitely a shock for small town Paul.

The first month in Cincinnati was very interesting. I quickly developed a dislike for my job, but tried incredibly hard to keep a positive mindset. I was 100% committed to trying to live in a different part of the world, and did so successfully until about October when I decided I would either move back to Connecticut or Boston ASAP. I had some very strong job leads in Connecticut starting in January, but decided to stay another six months and have an open mind for another rotation. I decided to take a role in Jacksonville, FL.

I thought I would like Jacksonville more than Cincinnati. As a city, I did. It has a beach…case closed.

What was incredibly hard was not really having any friends or a social life. I spent most of my free time worrying about my future and wondering what I would do if I did not find a job. I probably could have made more friends if I wasn’t having nightly panic attacks, but I’m happy I can stop worrying.

By this time, I was committed to moving to Boston in August, with or without a job. It needed to be done. My family and friends were always supportive and would tell me “You will have no problem finding a job”, or I would just talk to friends back home about random stuff…and it really helped take my mind off things. So thanks, you know who you are.

It is kind of funny, because all my friends and family think incredibly high of me, and think I will accomplish anything I say I will. I mean, it usually happens. I swear luck has a lot to do with it half the time…so I hope that luck doesn’t run out any time soon.

Thanks to everyone who kept in touch while I was away, listened to me ramble about random things, didn’t make fun of me too much for coming back to CT a lot, and kept thinking things would work out.

Americans are amazingly dumb

Link

and

World’s Scariest Chart

wow

Thing I Learned…

1. I was picking jobs for all the wrong reasons while I was still in school. The main goals were to get a job as early as possible, get a job that was seen as hard to get, and enjoy as many free perks through interviewing as possible. I think I accomplished all this and spent the remainder of senior year reaping the benefits. I was pretty open to living somewhere else and trying something new. Everyone wants to leave if they have been in a safe place for a long time, it’s only natural. For me, location (as long as it was outside of CT) was like #27 on the list of concerns. I took a job with GE because they do a great job of telling you everything you want to hear in interviews, they have cool commercials, are on every important ranking imaginable and have very flashy recruiting pamphlets. I would probably do it all over again though. I learned so much about what type of people I like to be around, where I want to live, and how I want to live.

2. I got a lot of frequent flier miles from going home a lot. I think I went home like 7 times in the past 10 months. It was a bit excessive, but the marginal benefits versus the costs were huge. Every time I went home I was so happy.

3. Sweet Tea is a big deal in Florida, and the rest of the south I guess.

4. Everyone is getting married at my age in the Midwest. I expect half to be divorced or miserable in 10 years.

5. People can talk themselves into anything. You see this all the time in a corporate setting. People talk themselves into a current situation, and can achieve real happiness. I mean I easily could have had a comfortable career financially at GE, but not on my own terms. They would be telling me what to do and think every step of the way. This was the hardest thing for me. I am a skeptic by nature, and want everything to be as efficient and sensible as possible.

6. It is hard to make friends when you go out by yourself. You look like a fool, and unless you are the masterful lonely guy from Flight of the Conchords, its very hard. Sure I talked to a lot of new people, but it takes too much investment to make a new friend. I did meet a bunch of old ladies when I wore UConn shirts to bars when watching games.

7. Craigslist ads attract Hookers and Escorts. I posted this ad (in jest) after a recommendation from a friend.  I mean, I will pretty much do anything that is humorous at my own expense, but I just ended up getting a lot of responses from overzealous people who were offering me links to their personal pages, and cell phone numbers to “set up” a great night together.  I just wanted coffee or ice cream!!!! Woah.

Hi.

I just moved to Jacksonville. There are too many stoplights on the roads. Too many U-Turns. The snow is killer too.

I moved here two weeks ago and have no friends by default. I’m not really looking for a female seriously. I just want to surround myself with females in the hope of attracting more females. Crazy? No, I’m hilarious and witty and damn intelligent (humble too). I’m still not sure if witty humor translates down here though. I’m from the northeast and I think I’m better than you, but we can make it work. Oh and I’m leaving in six months so i want all contact to basically end (well we can keep in touch on facebook and poke the shit out of each other).

Heres how I would describe myself:
1. Eats 2-3 meals a day
2. gorgeous Blue eyes
3. sleeps 8-10 hours a day
4. loves naps
5. I’m never busy
6. wants to go back to college
7. not fat
8. clasically handsome

Qualities I look for in a girl:
1. enjoys getting made fun of and can make fun of me back
2. laughs at the right time. giggle happy girls are annoying
3. not being reallllly ugly
4. someone that likes to cook
5. girls who arent always stressed
6. showers at least once a day
7. isnt bulimic
8. girls that know how to use technology

My last weeks in my first job…

Leaving the corporate world for a job in the Boston area with McKinsey & Company. I am more excited than a puppy for this next year in my life.