26-year-old works at a bookstore and lives on $53,000 a year in New York City
A 26-year-old who studied civil engineering but realized it wasn't her passion moved to New York City with $3,000 in savings to pursue work that would be more fulfilling. She turned down a $67,000 engineering job offer to work in a bookstore instead, prioritizing meaningful work over expected career paths.
Summary
The speaker grew up in the Chicago suburbs and initially studied civil engineering at Iowa State University. However, two years into her degree, she had a realization that she wasn't really a math and science person, but rather someone who loves language, books, reading and writing. Despite this revelation, she was already halfway through the program and had invested too much time in math classes to give up, so she decided to stick it out while developing a backup plan since she knew she wouldn't pursue engineering full-time after graduation. After graduating, she was ready for a change and decided to move to New York City, somewhere she had never lived before. She arrived with about $3,000 in savings after covering moving expenses, first month's rent, and security deposit. While job hunting, she applied to some engineering positions and actually received an offer for $67,000 per year. However, after consideration, she made the difficult decision to turn down this well-paying offer because she had made a promise to herself not to take a job just because it was the expected or natural next step. Instead, she wanted work that would 'fill her cup every day' and provide meaning, rather than requiring her to sit at a desk doing work that wasn't meaningful to her. This principled decision led her to ultimately work in a bookstore, aligning with her true interests in books and literature.
Key Insights
- The speaker realized two years into her engineering degree that she wasn't really a math and science person but rather loved language, books, reading and writing
- She decided to stick out the engineering program despite her realization because she had already taken too many math classes to give up
- She moved to New York with only $3,000 in savings after paying for moving expenses, first month's rent and security deposit
- She received a $67,000 per year engineering job offer but ultimately decided to turn it down
- She made a promise to herself not to take a job just because it felt like the natural or expected step, wanting instead a job that would fill her cup every day and be meaningful
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and I studied civil engineering at Iowa State University, but about two years into my degree, I remembered that I'm not really a math and science person. I'm more of a language person. I love books. I love reading and writing. At that point, I was already halfway through the program and so I figured I would just stick it out because I had taken way too many math classes at that point to give up. I started to develop a backup plan because I knew that once I graduated, I was probably not going to be pursuing a [0:30] full-time career in engineering. Once I graduated, I was ready for something…
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