After a fabulous four months off, I am now back at Suffolk.
I feel like I have to repeat the fifth grade, while everyone else has moved on to middle school. Feels so sad to be going back to school while a bunch of my friends graduated in the spring. I'm so jealous of them not having to start another semester! However, I can't complain too much- I am down to just three classes AND I happen to like both my professors/subjects this fall semester. I am mentally reminding myself everyday that it won't be all that bad. This is easy stuff...
Well, easy compared to some of the stuff I have been through this summer. I chose not to take a summer class this summer for more than just 2011 tax benefits. I had a feeling that I might need that $3,300 for another reason. In June, I decided that after almost 2.5 years of being together, it was time for my boyfriend and I to go our separate ways. I felt the relationship wasn't right for many reasons and I no longer had hope that things COULD change. He's a great person, as am I, and I think it just wasn't right between us. We lived together for just over a year and a half, so our lives were completely intertwined and I made the insanely difficult decision to move out. I left my upscale, fabulously decorated and homey apartment in the "burbs" and moved into a 350 square foot studio apartment in Beacon Hill.
Thank God for all those hours on the couch I spent watching HGTV. I was able to view apartments with the eye for POTENTIAL, not with what I was presented with - because ewww... some of the apartments I viewed were gross. I couldn't fathom living with roommates again and I couldn't bear to live in the burbs, so I sought out something I could afford and make my own. The day I took the keys, I scrubbed, I painted, I envisioned. Then the next day I went and spent nearly $3000 on stuff. You know, bed, couch, kitchen wares, garbage cans, cleaning supplies, wardrobes - stuff that you need but don't realize you need it. After living together for some time, I had sold off a majority of my stuff because his was nicer and we didn't have room for all of it. Had I taken the summer class, I would probably not have been able to make the move. Having a little cash cow was definitely handy. :)
Which is obviously a lesson in being smart and protecting yourself. Thank goodness my parents instilled the values of saving for a rainy day (and even sunny ones).
So here I am! I love my new home, I love living by myself and I love Beacon Hill. It's fabulous to walk 10 minutes up the street to the Sawyer building and fabulous to walk 13 minutes to work everyday. I am surrounded by amazing bars and restaurants and people. I think this is actually the life I always envisioned for myself. City Living. Surrounded by phenomenal friends. Tranquility and peace in my home. I recommend living on your own for every single person out there.
I built a support group around me to lift me on my hard days and share with me on my good days. A handful of people from this group are friends of mine from Suffolk. They are leading very similar lives. My friends outside of grad school seem to be more on the marriage and babies track, so they can't relate as well to heading back out on your own at 28. A few of my Suffolk friends have either previously gone through what I did or are currently in a similar situation. Maybe it is just a coincidence.... or maybe there's like minded thinking amongst my grad school peers. Maybe we're more confident in going after what we really want. Maybe we never settle for what everyone else has and strive for more out of life. Whatever it is, I encourage anyone in an MBA program to really make connections with your peers and classmates. You just never know when they might enrich your life in unexpected ways.
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