Decade Challenge: From A Midwestern High School Student to A NYC Journalist

I know I’m late on this whole “Decade Challenge” trend, but I really wanted to take a minute to reflect on the changes, challenges, and successes I’ve had over the last 10 years. Hopefully, whoever is reading this takes something from it, but honestly I’m writing this post with more therapeutic intentions than my usual travel guides or styling posts. As I mentioned in my 2019 highlights, the beginning of this decade has me feeling more motivated and excited than usual! So, before I start going crazy with my content planning, I wanted to just sit down, write, and reflect.

The Highs and Lows of High School

In 2009, I was in my first year of high school. I played tons of sports, had a lot of friends, and I cried over boys way more than I should have. I was a teenager (15 years old in 2009), and excuse this humble brag, but: I got all A’s in school (seriously I graduated co-valedictorian with above a 4.0), I played basketball, volleyball, a little softball, and I was on the school dance team. I was voted onto Homecoming court and was voted “Best Dressed.” I edited the yearbook, wrote for the newspaper, was the student council class secretary, and the vice president of the National Honors Society. I had a full load of AP classes and somehow still made the time to throw crazy parties for all my friends — I arrived to my Sweet 16 in a freaking limo!

But, this is real life and I don’t want you guys thinking I was perfect by any means lol. I strived for perfection for most of my teen years, but as I’ve come to learn the hard way, perfection is not a real thing. Of course, there was some ROUGH relationship drama sprinkled throughout the early 2010’s and no one gets through high school without one or two friends stabbing them in the back. I thought my life was OVER when I tore my ACL playing basketball and had to take most of my junior year off from playing sports (that stupid knee still gives me problems). My grandpa passed away the summer before my junior year, which was hard for my family. And I ended up in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship by the the end of my senior year that damaged my health, my confidence, my reputation, and many of my other relationships.

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So how did I get from there to here?

Even back in 2009, I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t exactly believe that was a real job. I decided to ignore my doubts (and the doubts of my friends and family) and keep telling everyone that I was going to go to college and be a journalist in New York City. Now, keep in mind that this is in Taylor, Michigan (a city about 15 minutes outside of Detroit) where most people’s parents worked for car companies, became cops or nurses, worked minimum wage jobs like retail or customer service, or struggled to find jobs at all. That is no shade at all towards my hometown, I actually loved my childhood. But, it can be difficult to have a dream that is beyond your own realm of understanding — let alone trying to convince the people around you that your ambitions aren’t just a silly fantasy.

When I decided to be a journalist, I didn’t know one single journalist. When I started my blog in 2014, I didn’t know one single blogger. This is a common story for a lot of Midwestern creatives, but it didn’t make it easy. I made up everything as I went.

College Dilemmas

When I graduated college, I got accepted to Michigan State University and I was planning on going there with my best friend (now roommate in NYC lol). However, a combination of my boyfriend at the time (remember the abusive relationship I mentioned?), a fear of student debt (which I ended up with anyway), and the advice of some family members, I last-minute changed my college choice to Eastern Michigan University.

So there are a couple of reasons why I regretted doing that: I didn’t get the living-on-campus college experience (EMU was right down the street from my parent’s house) and MSU has a better and more well-known journalism program that would have challenged me more. However, I do think that EMU was exactly the right decision for other reasons: I was able to double major in journalism and fashion and minor in marketing all while finishing in four years with a 3.9, I worked all throughout college which helped me fund TWO study abroad trips, I became the arts and entertainment editor at the school newspaper, I graduated from the Honors College, became a McNair Scholar, and I made some really great friends. Although I didn’t attend frat parties or experience living in a dorm, I definitely made out okay lol.

During undergrad, I struggled to shake my relationship. It was like I was addicted to the pain. Now I could write a whole other essay about that relationship (and maybe I will), but after 5-6 years of trying to make it work with this guy, what really got me to snap out of it was physically removing myself from my current situation. And grad school was the perfect way to do it.

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Leaving Home

In the summer of 2016, I decided to continue my education at Syracuse University studying arts journalism. Although I already had a degree in journalism, I knew that I didn’t have the experience or internships to go to NYC and find a job. Syracuse really helped me with that.

Within the first few months of living in Syracuse, I knew my relationship was over. My ex had actually dumped me before I left, but the occasional calls and texts got further and further apart pretty quickly after I moved. After I was able to get the f*** over it, I loved being in Syracuse! It was only a year long program and during that time I made lifelong friends, I had my first apartment, I traveled to Toronto and Charleston, and I got an internship at my favorite magazine, NYLON.

After graduating from SU, I knew I was ready for the Big Apple. Luckily, my best friend from high school, Kailena, decided to move to New York too! I took a risk by moving straight to NYC without a full-time job, but I had a series of interviews lined up. By the grace of God, I was blessed with a full-time *paid* internship at CafeMom less than two weeks after moving to the city.

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Empire State of Mind

Now, let me just emphasize that NYC is not for the weak! You have to hustle and be determined to make it here. The rent is beyond expensive, it’s extremely competitive, and it’s crowded and busy af all the time. I actually hated my first apartment. I seriously debated leaving the city and going back to Michigan. We had bedbugs, mice, and no sunlight and I was paying $800 a month to live there while only making $12 an hour. You do the math!

However, I am SO happy I stuck it out. I decided to leave the apartment that I was miserable in and stay with a friend of mine in the Bronx for a few months so I could save a little money on rent. He had an extra bedroom and only charged me about $600 a month. After sticking it out as an intern for almost NINE MONTHS, I finally got hired at CafeMom as a full-time lifestyle reporter.

While I was there, I made it through a round of layoffs and the company being sold. After the work environment changed, I felt it was time for me to find my next opportunity. I had learned so many amazing skills from that first job (video, social media, celebrity reporting, and more). I was ready for the next step in my career. Then, I fell into shopping editorial.

My good friend Aline, whom I had met in grad school, suggested me for an opening on her commerce team at The TODAY Show. I interviewed, got it, and started working at THE Rockefeller Center. It was SO surreal. Hoda Kotb was at my freaking work Christmas party! I interviewed celebrities and even worked to bring more inclusivity to their shopping content. The only downside was that I was in a contract position; which means I wasn’t officially on the staff and they could easily end my contract after one year. I was terrified to be unemployed in NYC (especially because by this time Kailena and I had our own two-bedroom apartment to pay for). So, I kept my options open and always had my LinkedIn updated.

One day, a recruiter reached out to me about a position as a market editor at BuzzFeed and the rest, as they say, was history. I got the job (after doing my initial phone interview on vacation in Puerto Rico lol) and I started my dream job as an editor at a MAJOR publication in July 2019.

What’s Next?

Now, It’s almost a week into the new decade. I love my job, I have a much nicer apartment with my best friend, I’m still blogging after almost six years, and I plan on drastically expanding my brand. My vision board for this year consists mostly of five key things:

• Building my blog, YouTube, social media, etc.
• Growing my relationship with God
• Traveling to new places
• Being healthier overall (self-care, exercise, etc.)
• And making my apartment feel like home

Although we never know what the future holds, I feel that right now I am in a really great place in my life and I’m just ready to grow more as a woman and as a creator. If you made it all the way to the end of this post, WOW, thank you for caring enough about my story to get here and I hope you took something from it.

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to my parents, family, and friends who have stuck by my side through all the bs, crazy dreams, comical fashion choices, tears, laughs, and smiles. I couldn’t do it without you.

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I hope you all have a prosperous year, a phenomenal decade, and I can’t wait to share my next ten years with you all! <3