in the meantime…

Hi Friends and Family!

Most of you know that I graduated from the University of Miami on December 19, 2013, and I am not leaving for the Peace Corps until January 20, 2015, which leaves almost exactly a year (okay, 13 months) between school and the PC. I consider this time period, purgatory. I want to be in South Africa and I want to be a Peace Corps volunteer more than anything in the whole world, but I am patiently waiting my turn. I am not quite where I want to be, but my previous college life is completely over: hence, purgatory.

So, people want to know, what am I doing during my “purgatory”?

Well, back in October 2013, when I had applied to the Peace Corps but hadn’t yet heard back, I decided to apply for “backup” jobs, just in case something happened. Almost immediately after getting nominated for service in Guatemala, I found out that I had been accepted as a marketing coordinator at Equiflor Corp., a flower distribution company here in Miami, FL. I was torn. I knew I needed to make money during my “purgatory” but I didn’t think a company would hire me for less than a year. I ended up telling Equiflor that I could only work until October (remember, at this point, I still thought I was leaving for Guatemala in October). Luckily (I guess), Equiflor was in a pickle and needed to hire a marketing coordinator immediately, as their current marketing coordinator was going on maternity leave. They graciously accepted me for the short time period, and I feel very lucky that this opportunity fell into my lap.

I graduated college a semester early, which means while I was contemplating my new, post-grad life, my friends were contemplating their last semester of college. So after graduation, I went home to St. Louis for my last “winter break” with my childhood friends, and returned to Miami to start my job on January 13 (the same day UM went back into session).

This time period was very hard for me. I was fortunate enough to live only ten minutes away from campus, and I still got to see my friends after work and on weekends, but I hated going to work each day while they went to class, met up at Starbucks, rode the shuttle together, and got to enjoy the freedom of being a college student. Looking back, I am so grateful that I stayed in Miami for work and got to pretend to be a college kid for one final semester, but it was still a hard transition. The only benefit of a full-time job vs. full-time student?….. No homework 🙂

So, for the past 6 months, I have been working as a marketing coordinator at Equiflor Corp. in Miami, FL. Now that my departure date has changed, I plan on staying at this job until Nov. 21, and then spending two months preparing for departure: packing, seeing my family, visiting friends all over the country, etc.

Although I love Miami, and this job worked out really well for me while my college friends still lived here, they all graduated on May 9, and now, they have moved all over the country for work, school, or undecided. That’s been hard… watching them leave one-by-one, as I stay here in my “big-girl” job. Regardless, I’m making it work. And I only have four more months until my Farewell America Tour (F.A.T.? Maybe I need to rename this…) begins, and that’s just gonna be awesome 😀