Things Are Coming Together: An Early October Update
Three weeks after I started at EF Boston, I learned that my position, along with everyone else’s, would be ending in five months. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. Ever since graduating in 2022, I’d felt like I was struggling to land anything above minimum wage. My role at EF came with a lot of responsibility, and housing too, but it was still an hourly job with no health insurance or retirement plan. Don’t get me wrong, it was a wonderful experience. I think a lot of that came from the environment itself: so multicultural, and full of aspiring young people from all over the world. I’ll just say that I ended up leaving a little early, and it wasn’t easy.
Shortly after leaving, though, I was offered a role at Northeastern. I’d applied to four other positions there that felt more within my range. It was the fifth application, for AI Makerspace Operations & Community Management, that got me an interview with the two people who would become my bosses. I’ve really loved working with them. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I’ve really loved Northeastern’s culture.
Two things have surprised me most. The first is just how different Northeastern is from my small liberal arts college in Norton, Massachusetts. I know Wheaton was a somewhat sheltered and at times isolating experience, but looking back, I’m so thankful for my time there. Given the circumstances and the grief I was carrying, it was a good place for me to be. I’ve kept both the lessons from the mistakes I made and the relationships I built there.
The second is the shift from an hourly wage to a salary. In my first four weeks, I was approved for my first credit card, I wear dressy (by my standards) clothes to work, I can pay my bills, and I adopted two kittens. Things are coming together so suddenly. I think it’s mainly because I have intellectual work to do during the day: fast-paced, pressing deadlines, so many new things to learn, and so many people to learn from and work with.
On my first day, I met with two consultants from Microsoft and had lunch with them. It was an amazing first day. So far I feel like I’ve embraced the role and leaned into the things I’m good at (mostly talking to people). I have so much to learn and so much room to grow, and that’s very exciting to me. I’m slowly getting used to things, but everything still feels new. I’m excited to see what future semesters look like and what the students make with AI.
It’s strange that my first salaried role is directly related to AI. At a time when so many people are worried about AI taking jobs, AI created the first job that’s actually paying my bills. I still have real concerns about data centers. I’d like to see them built with union labor, cut their pollution, and run on clean power like solar, hydro, wind, or nuclear. But in the meantime, we still need to learn about AI. I tell people we should try to separate the technology from the politics around it. We need to learn about and act on both, but they’re different animals to tackle. I’m not the most technical person, I’ll admit my apps have their share of bugs, and I’m still learning so much. The students at Northeastern are so impressive, too. They’re so entrepreneurial.
Outside of work, I’ve booked a lot of Mandarin lessons for November and December. After a few years of study my Cantonese is still pretty basic, but I think knowing some Mandarin will unlock a lot for me. If you’ve read my “Madman Method” on Linguacommons, you’ll know I don’t pay much attention to limiting how many languages I study at once. That said, I’ve recently put a few on the back burner: Turkish, Vietnamese, French, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese. Right now I need to focus on just German, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese, and that’s already a lot. I also found a really incredible Pokémon-style game for learning Chinese. I think it’s called Nihao Shanghai. I’ve been playing it, and I should play more often.
As for the kittens: one is so playful and follows me from room to room, constantly kneading her claws in the air (or wherever). Some nights I have to put her in her carrier, because every five seconds she’ll jump on my face or shoulders and start kneading (girl, I’m tryna sleep!). The other one is a bit shyer but just as sweet, is warming up quickly, and is also incredibly playful.
It’s crazy to think 2026 is almost over. We’ve still got Halloween, my favorite holiday. The leaves are changing, my life is changing faster than ever, and year by year it feels like there’s more in adulthood to enjoy. I’ll admit the job can be overwhelming, but it gives me a real sense of purpose and the financial stability I’ve needed.
That’s all for my early October update. Thanks for reading!