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.
