On my last day in Miami, Michelle and I went to South Beach, just so that I could spend my last day on the beach. We ended up meeting up with our old friend from high school, Valencia Castro.
Michelle and I went to the beach so that as soon as we finished, I could just head straight to the airport and come back home. It was a great idea, because it was a Monday and there weren't too many people on the beach. The weather was absolutely beautiful during this time of year. Please enjoy the pics.
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Monday, October 09, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
My Opinion Piece Was e-Published!
College Bound? (www.smartremarx.com)
Posted 09/25/06
by Gina Anderson
Guest Columnist
Lately, I've been hearing my friends, who are all college graduates with excellent experience, tell that they are searching for a second and third job just to pay the bills. We've all heard about how this new generation of college graduates are in debt up to their eyeballs before they even graduate from college and now they're graduating and having to work doubly as hard only to make as much or less than someone working at a fast food restaurant or janitor (even they have unions!). I have other friends who are doing hiring and they are telling me about how people with master's degrees are applying, in droves, to administrative assistant positions. Isn't there something wrong here when we, college graduates, particularly those of us working in international development and non-profit and trying to give back, must sacrifice our true dreams and goals to "earn a decent living" just to pay half of the rent. How many of us have roommates?I graduated from a respectable institution of learning in the Washington, DC area with a very respectable bachelor's degree. I got a scholarship that paid 80% of my tuition, however, at $30,000 a year, the remaining 20% percent in loans have since added up. That was three years ago. Since then I've lived abroad in Japan for two years where I was paid fairly well (in foreign currency) for a fresh-out-of-college graduate and have been back in the States for a year.
In the past year, I've worked at two different jobs. I've worked since I was 16 and at each job, I never stayed less than two years. Lately, my loyalty to jobs has slowly faltered in the search of jobs that pay me more now so that I can survive living (sometimes below my means) in the DC-metro area. I started out working at an excellent NGO (non-governmental organization) where I thoroughly enjoyed my work and learned so much, but the pay just didn't cut it. I think that I hit rock bottom when I ran out of my savings from my last posh position as an English language teacher in Japan, my laptop (that had served me for three long years) and car broke down within one month. You can only guess what my next move was.Yes, I sacrificed at this NGO for nine long months -- for what felt like true labor pains – on a less than $30,000 salary (equal to one year's tuition, go figure) and prayed that things would get better. Things didn't get better. I tried everything to stay and do what I loved: catering for $13 an hour, selling my writing, more catering, but it just wasn't enough. I finally made the big decision to put myself out there and job search. I got tons of bites from recruiters because of my international experience and oh how the bigger salary offers were so enticing. I bit the bullet and went on interviews. I felt terrible because I was so tied to the mission of my NGO and the people all across the world that, I felt, I was helping and that I was in some way (by sacrificing and accepting poor wages) connected to through the struggle of everyday living (by no means am I saying that my struggles were equal to the women we helped in foreign countries). There I was now searching for another job and I was VERY close to accepting a position with one of the largest defense contracting companies in the world. I didn't accept that position and chose the middle ground – the government and so far I'm happy with my position and making more money, but I constantly look back on whether I "sold out" because of my "college bound" status. I have problem with the way things are going. The promise of a better tomorrow if we go to college is looking more like a "possibility" to a model American lifestyle. I'm thoroughly convinced that it's a disappointing future for many 2008 graduates.
Category: College and Career
Posted 09/25/06 by: Gina Anderson
Your Smart RemarxSteve Lee wrote:
It's sad to see the result of all your hard hard work resulting in your post-college bondage. Many grads are now consolidating their Federal college student loans but it is still a heavy load.
09/25/06 16:11:38
Posted 09/25/06
by Gina Anderson
Guest Columnist
Lately, I've been hearing my friends, who are all college graduates with excellent experience, tell that they are searching for a second and third job just to pay the bills. We've all heard about how this new generation of college graduates are in debt up to their eyeballs before they even graduate from college and now they're graduating and having to work doubly as hard only to make as much or less than someone working at a fast food restaurant or janitor (even they have unions!). I have other friends who are doing hiring and they are telling me about how people with master's degrees are applying, in droves, to administrative assistant positions. Isn't there something wrong here when we, college graduates, particularly those of us working in international development and non-profit and trying to give back, must sacrifice our true dreams and goals to "earn a decent living" just to pay half of the rent. How many of us have roommates?I graduated from a respectable institution of learning in the Washington, DC area with a very respectable bachelor's degree. I got a scholarship that paid 80% of my tuition, however, at $30,000 a year, the remaining 20% percent in loans have since added up. That was three years ago. Since then I've lived abroad in Japan for two years where I was paid fairly well (in foreign currency) for a fresh-out-of-college graduate and have been back in the States for a year.
In the past year, I've worked at two different jobs. I've worked since I was 16 and at each job, I never stayed less than two years. Lately, my loyalty to jobs has slowly faltered in the search of jobs that pay me more now so that I can survive living (sometimes below my means) in the DC-metro area. I started out working at an excellent NGO (non-governmental organization) where I thoroughly enjoyed my work and learned so much, but the pay just didn't cut it. I think that I hit rock bottom when I ran out of my savings from my last posh position as an English language teacher in Japan, my laptop (that had served me for three long years) and car broke down within one month. You can only guess what my next move was.Yes, I sacrificed at this NGO for nine long months -- for what felt like true labor pains – on a less than $30,000 salary (equal to one year's tuition, go figure) and prayed that things would get better. Things didn't get better. I tried everything to stay and do what I loved: catering for $13 an hour, selling my writing, more catering, but it just wasn't enough. I finally made the big decision to put myself out there and job search. I got tons of bites from recruiters because of my international experience and oh how the bigger salary offers were so enticing. I bit the bullet and went on interviews. I felt terrible because I was so tied to the mission of my NGO and the people all across the world that, I felt, I was helping and that I was in some way (by sacrificing and accepting poor wages) connected to through the struggle of everyday living (by no means am I saying that my struggles were equal to the women we helped in foreign countries). There I was now searching for another job and I was VERY close to accepting a position with one of the largest defense contracting companies in the world. I didn't accept that position and chose the middle ground – the government and so far I'm happy with my position and making more money, but I constantly look back on whether I "sold out" because of my "college bound" status. I have problem with the way things are going. The promise of a better tomorrow if we go to college is looking more like a "possibility" to a model American lifestyle. I'm thoroughly convinced that it's a disappointing future for many 2008 graduates.
Category: College and Career
Posted 09/25/06 by: Gina Anderson
Your Smart RemarxSteve Lee wrote:
It's sad to see the result of all your hard hard work resulting in your post-college bondage. Many grads are now consolidating their Federal college student loans but it is still a heavy load.
09/25/06 16:11:38
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Sachi and Boo do Washington, DC!
Sachi Imai is my friend from Japan whom I met at a body building competition through mutual friends. Yes, we have a friend named Fiona who is a competitive female body builder. Anyways, that was two years ago and we're still great friends. I haven't been back to Japan in a year, so I was SO happy that she would come back to visit and bring my beloved little Kotono aka "BooBoo" with her. Little BooBoo is bilingual in English and Japanese. She also just happens to be cute as a button.
Well, anyways, Sachi and BooBoo came here on September 5th and stayed for week. They flew back to Japan on September 11th. Chotto Kowai! They made it back safely. Sachi's friend, Rui, also came on September 5th, but she left a few days earlier to visit some other cities.
I had a BBQ in their honor on Sunday, September 10th and quite a few people showed up with their own special dishes. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures, because I was busy trying to start the fire on the grill.
The weekend before they left, my friend, Michelle Oney, from high school came up to visit me and also to meet Sachi. It was great. They all got along so well.
Enjoy the pictures!
Well, anyways, Sachi and BooBoo came here on September 5th and stayed for week. They flew back to Japan on September 11th. Chotto Kowai! They made it back safely. Sachi's friend, Rui, also came on September 5th, but she left a few days earlier to visit some other cities.
I had a BBQ in their honor on Sunday, September 10th and quite a few people showed up with their own special dishes. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures, because I was busy trying to start the fire on the grill.
The weekend before they left, my friend, Michelle Oney, from high school came up to visit me and also to meet Sachi. It was great. They all got along so well.
Enjoy the pictures!
Tennessee
Yet again, my family took a caravan of 6 cars (including mine) to the Knoxville area of Tennessee for a family vacation. I have always been in school or out of the country when they've gone there. It's quite beautiful and there seems to be SO much to do! I can't believe how much stuff there is to see and do there. The shopping was a amazing!
Below are some pictures of my sister-in-law and my nephews as we took a roadtrip from southern Virginia (where I picked her and my nephews up). We went through these mountains and stopped at this overlook called "Lover's Leap" along the way. I can't remember if we were in North Carolina, Virginia or Tennessee, but it certainly was beautiful. There was this nice couple that were so nice to take pictures of us. We also drove through this Country Fair in this town in southern Virginia. We totally sat in traffic along the rows and rows of stands selling anything from teriyaki chicken to funnel cake. It was kinda cool because the traffic was going so slow that I got out of the car and bought some food along the way. The journey took 10 hours for me total, because I was coming from Washington, DC. NEVER AGAIN! All for my nephews though.
Below are some pictures of my sister-in-law and my nephews as we took a roadtrip from southern Virginia (where I picked her and my nephews up). We went through these mountains and stopped at this overlook called "Lover's Leap" along the way. I can't remember if we were in North Carolina, Virginia or Tennessee, but it certainly was beautiful. There was this nice couple that were so nice to take pictures of us. We also drove through this Country Fair in this town in southern Virginia. We totally sat in traffic along the rows and rows of stands selling anything from teriyaki chicken to funnel cake. It was kinda cool because the traffic was going so slow that I got out of the car and bought some food along the way. The journey took 10 hours for me total, because I was coming from Washington, DC. NEVER AGAIN! All for my nephews though.
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