Musings from the unemployed.

Ah, I'm so close to finishing up my season of unemployment. So close that if I lose now, I'll be devastated. Without hope. Without drive. This is my fourth week of unemployment and I'm nearly at the end of my rope. I've read and caught up with friends. I helped my brother moved to Seattle and successfully went to the OBGYN. I've walked and ran miles on end and started a Bible study through my church. I've been to meetings about loan repayment and sent out my resume to at least 30 potential employers. 

To be honest, I don't know how much more of this unemployment business I can handle. And God-willing... I'll only have another week of it. 

I applied for a AmeriCorps VISTA position, which is a sanction of AmeriCorps towards ending poverty. I would be working in a non-profit called Girls on the Run, which empowers 3rd through 5th graders to run their first 5k with a holistic approach of body image and positive thinking. I would be doing research on how to better outreach to high-risk girls in need. I would be going out into the community and asking questions. I would be a running mentor. And I would create a system to recruit these 'underprivileged' girls of Seattle. Hopefully giving them a better view of themselves and their own decision making. 

My compensation would be health care, a gym membership, a $4,700 stipend at the end of the year for my loans, and a meager living allowance (which is at the poverty-line for Seattle). Living at the poverty-line is something that I've always wanted to do. I want to experience living on food stamps and really working for a living. So many people in our country live at or below the poverty line. Is is really possible? Can you really live on $900 a month? 

I have my third interview next week, and then hopefully my unemployment will end. Cross your fingers, ladies! 

On a side note, being a graduate is wonderful, but weird at first. It's like seeing the world through a whole new set of eyes. Sure unemployment isn't great, but it's so empowering to do things for myself... not just because some professor told me that I must in order to pass his class for a degree. I'm starting to feel human again--connected to the world in a whole new different way. 

I, Chelsea Elizabeth Hodgson, am a twenty-one year old college graduate living in Seattle. Sounds kinda nice, huh? I am my own person. No longer do I fall under the broad category of student. I now fall under the even more broad category of human.