Catherine is one of the many fresh out of the college graduates still looking for a job in this economic recession. However, despite family problems of her father working across the country while her mother deals with a recently diagnosed bi-polar disorder, she finds ways to develop a sense of self that sustains her and learns how to relax during harder times.

Age? 23

Where have you lived? Boston, Buenos Aires, Washington DC

Where do you want to live? Chicago, Seattle, Portland

Where do you work? I recently finished an internship at an arts organization and now I am unemployed.

Being unemployed, how are you coping with the scarcity of jobs during this recession?

Over the summer I was very anxious and felt very confused about not having the opportunity to pursue what I wanted to do. But for some reason, I am very relaxed about it now and just feel I would take any job where I can make some money. I just finished an internship and I feel like things will happen when they will happen.

You came here to do an internship in the arts, was the work challenging or did you feel it was mostly busy boring work?

I am so glad that I did it but I had to be very persistent to get them to give me actual work.  However, when they did, I had the opportunity to really be involved which included tracking down guests to interview, writing intros, writing interview questions, researching, and overall having a hand in shaping the program. I felt there was a competitive culture that was difficult and not as collaborative as I would have liked. No one took me under their wing or took any interest in the ideas that I brought to the table so it was hard to keep my sense of self or confidence.

How are you able to pay your bills?

One thing that has been really great is that my parents have been able to give me some financial help. I have been living with my grandmother and I thought it would be a chance to bond with her but she is a very private person and never wanted to interact with me. I would try to reach out and do nice things for her but she would never respond and clearly just wanted to have her space back. It was a very awkward experience where I constantly felt like I was walking on egg shells. My plan now is to move back to Boston and get an apartment.

Being away from family and friends, do you still receive support or have people close to you let you down?

My parents try their best to be supportive but they have their own worries and tend to drop on things. My parents are still married but my dad always lived in Los Angeles, even when I was growing up for work reasons. It was pretty shitty and my mother was not a very present parent. She suffers from bi polar disorder and was not medicated while I was growing up so there were lots of incidents related to that and I was often alone.

During your mother’s illness was your dad always across the country?

They have always had a long distance relationship, which is weird. That was something frustrating for me because (more…)