I think that's how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, "Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west." Richard Jeni
After graduating the first week in May, I spent the remainder of the month enjoying my time with friends and family. On June 1, 2010, I hopped on a plane and flew to Chicago on a one way ticket to start the next chapter of my life.
A week or so before my flight, I got news that the company I was positive would be my future employer decided to “go in another direction." In other words, I was now an unemployed 22 year old college graduate living in one of the most expensive cities in America.
I arrived at my new apartment mid-morning and was not even in the city for 3 hours before hailing a cab and heading to Michigan Avenue for interviews. Looking back now, being passed over for the job I thought I wanted then was a blessing in disguise. I ended up landing one of the positions I applied for the day I arrived, and soon after joined the world of Corporate America.
Although the 8-5 days are extremely tedious, and I have come to learn “Casual Friday” is just a rumor in many companies; I love the friends I’ve made through work and the opportunity my job gives me to travel. Since September, I've traveled from the West Coast to the Nation's Capital. I loved my first ever trip to San Francisco and being able to visit Kyle when in Washington DC.
Aside from adapting my life to a full-time job and responsibilities bigger than attending chapter once a week, facing the winter has been the most difficult challenge yet. I have decided that the beautiful Chicago summer is just a pretty picture painted to distract you from the permanent deep-freeze that takes over the city from November-February. Deciding to embrace my inner-northerner, I bought my first winter jacket. Although I feel like I am walking around in my bed comforter, I’m pretty sure its the only reason I have not yet developed severe hypothermia. 
Although the transition has been difficult, I’ve been blessed with amazing friends I never would have met without moving here. They are not only my “Thank God Its Friday, Let’s Get a Beer” friends, but are also the best support system I could have asked for living thousands of miles away from home. Wherever the next chapter of my life may lead, I know the friendships I’ve made here will last long past I leave the Windy City.
AG
