Not in college anymore...

It's almost been 2 year since college graduation and I have found an ever-increasing list of differences from my in school and my life now.

Here are some signs that you're definitely not in college anymore...

The Bad News
1) When you're sick you can't just go to the Health Center to get meds and a note.
2) Sleeping in means 8am, not 4pm.
3) Commuting
4) You can't just nap any time you want (although I usually manage to on my commute). There aren't breaks between meetings, like there are between classes.
5) You can't just skip a day of work, especially if you're a freelancer. You work, you're paid. No work, no pay.
6) You can no longer just roll out of bed and go to class in your pajamas or sweatpants. Business attire and appropriate shoes (not flip flops) must be worn.
7) Lunch is not spent chatting with friends between classes at the IK. It usually means spending $10-$15 to eat at your desk and continue working.
8) You have to make plans, sometimes weeks in advance, to see people or even to talk to them on the phone. No more running into people on campus.
9) There's no such thing as "wildcard money" or "campus cash". If you want it, you pay for it with your own real-life money.
10) Homework means you didn't get it done during the regular work week and you probably have a deadline to meet.
11) There's is no dismissal time for work, like there is for class. You work until work is done.
12) Summer's just another season.
13) No such thing as a 'snow day'. There is the rare case where the entire transit system is shut down, in which case you work from home.
14) Student loans
15) The incessant calls from your university's donation telethon. ("I'm sorry but I can't donate any money to you guys until I'm out of debt and done paying you for my education.")
16) Parties are restricted to holidays and special occasions.
17) Taxes. You are no longer a dependent. Get used to it.
18) Rent. Either you pay a landlord, or in my case, you pay your parents. Not in cash, in fealty. (Look it up. You'll understand). 

But fear not because not all is lost. There are some definite perks to life after college.

The Good News
1) Paychecks
2) No papers, tests or daily homework.
3) Vacation days. If you have the money, you can find the time, anytime.
4) Promotions
5) Pay raises
6) There's always an intern below you.
7) Hopefully you're doing something you enjoy instead of taking 'core classes' like Theology or Philosophy (unless you're a Philosophy or Theology major in which case I'm glad somebody enjoyed those classes)
8) Weekends are weekends and are not interrupted by work due the following week.
9) If you want to go out after work, you can. If you want to go home and watch TV on the couch, go for it.
10) Having a drink at dinner is classy and well-deserved after a day at work, where in college you were a drunk if you started drinking before 9pm.
11)You can begin to knock things off your 'bucket list'. Why yes I do want to go zip-lining through the rain forest, or take a yacht to island hop through Greece.
12) Freedom. You're an adult. Even if your parents tell you to do something, you're of an age where you can make your own decisions and not get grounded for it.
13) Age begins to be meaningless. When your in college the difference between 20 and 21 seems like light-years in time and experience. After school, the difference between 24 and 34 is a digit (and possibly a marriage or two).
14) Time with friends is meaningful and cherished. A phone call or a lunch date is never taken for granted.
15) The world is your oyster. I'm thinking about moving to the UK for at least a year. And why not? Sure, I have to get a visa and all, but I'm young, unattached and monetarily independent.


There are also some realities of post-grad life that can be viewed as either good or bad, depending on your perspective.
For instance, weddings. People start getting married which means great parties and reunions with friends. However, the downside is that weddings also bring along the pressures of the ever-present future and all the expenditures (dress, jewelry, travel, gift, shoes, flowers).

It may seem like the bad out weighs the good but really it's just an adjustment that you have to get used to. And believe me paychecks make almost anything better.

I'll be sure to update this growing list as I encounter the good, the bad and the in-between of post grad life. Have any suggestions of additions, let me know.

Unglamourously Glamorous

When you hear "entertainment industry" most people think of movie stars, glamorous wrap parties, award shows, fame, fortune...... And then there's me.
Subconsciously I separate my life in television and film production as completely different and separate from those glamorous people. However, every so often I remember the meager paths from which great celebrities and artists have come from (Ryan Reynolds from the likes of "Just Friends" and "Waiting", Sylvester Stallone from pornography, Marilyn Monroe a waitress at Mel's Diner) and I realize that I don't have it so bad. And some day that big break may yet come my way.

Take Rosie Coker, for example. She was a production assistant on one of the Harry Potter films and managed to catch the eye of one very famous wizard. So, on the one hand, she was probably making coffee runs, keeping fire watch (aka standing around to make sure no one steals or damages any equipment) and doing b!tch work while on set. On the other hand, her new beau Daniel Radcliffe can now take her with him to the Tonys, Oscars, Golden Globes or any other event that a celebrity of his status is invited to (and can bring a 'plus 1').

I've resigned myself to the fact that at this point in my career there's less glamor and more grunge. I can't even go for a manicure because chances are I'll be on a construction site the next day and would either a) look like a complete pansy with my nails painted and filed, b) waste the $25+ that it cost by ruining them.

Here's a short rundown of what my days look like....
First scenario, I wake up at 7am, I'm on the train to NYC at 8:17am and I'm in the office around 9:30am. Here I proceed to make phone calls, book crew (camera, audio, production assistants), rent equipment, put out call sheets (official itinerary for the shoots that is distributed to crew members), track down information from the site contacts as far as milestones that are occurring on site, the whereabouts of our primary 'characters', and the overall progress of the construction. Essentially, not only do I have to be an expert at my own trade but I also have to be an expert in ironwork and construction so I know what milestones we should be on site to film.
I also control all of the equipment and have to make sure we have our full inventory at all times and that it is running properly.
After a long day of coordinating, calling, and logisticizing (just made that up) I usually take the train home somewhere between 6 and 8pm, then eat and go to bed.

Second scenario, I'm up sometime between 3:00am and 5:00am (depending on our call time) and drive 45-90 minutes (depending on traffic) to one of our 2 construction sites, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in the Bronx or the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. At which point I put on my very attractive safety gear: safety goggles, hard hat, reflective vest, work boots, Under armor and other thermal clothing. The day is then spent collecting appearance releases, taking production stills, keeping camera notes, braving the elements, managing the media shot throughout the day, and handling batteries/cards/cameras/gear. Once we wrap on site, I return to the office to pass the shot cards (we're in a digital age people, there are no tapes or film) on to our editors, empty our production van(s), organize our equipment closet (including harnesses and other safety gear), and make sure everything is set up for the next day. I'm usually home at the same time, covered in the dust and grime of the day.

A couple of weeks ago, after an exceedingly long day, I realized just how unglamorous my current position was. I was on the train home with my mom when we called my dad to pick us up from the station. He suggested we meet at the bar across the street from the train station for dinner. I was in my "construction chic", complete with plaid flannel shirt and hard hat hair, and was not excited to be out in public, but I was outvoted. At the bar, I ordered a beer, which the waitress brought to me without a glass. Having had a long day and not wanting to cause trouble, I drank right out of the bottle. My mother looked at me, beer in hand, work boots and all, and stated, "I guess this is as close as I'll get to ever having a son." 
All I could do was laugh, for I was quite a sight to behold.


Being glamorous can't be that far away..... I mean our show was recently featured at the TCAs (Television Critics Association tour) and if you follow any network or cable shows on twitter, they were all there and talking about the event. I didn't get to go but my show was there! And I've had my name in the credits with Steven Spielberg. Mine showed up 30 seconds after his in 30 seconds of credits, but it was still there! Basically, I'm just one (major) step away from glamorous.

So maybe one day, my hours and days spent outside on construction sitea with pay off and I will walk the red carpet, have my own trailer, make enough money to get my nails done and keep them nice, have a verified account on Twitter and work with all the swankiest celebs.

Until then, just pray that I don't have a steel beam fall on my head.

Symptoms of Workaholism

I have come to realize that in this difficult world of interning and PA-ing, a highly competitive industry, that it is easy to begin overworking. I currently find myself sitting on a PATH train bound for Hoboken at 8:10pm on a Friday night after 10+ hours at the office with the prospect of a few more work-related emails and phone calls tonight, a few hours of work tomorrow and plans to show up early at the office Monday for a shoot.

I have also made no social plans for the entire weekend. True that's mostly due to my need to rest and kick this nasty cold of mine but I cannot help but notice the total lack of balance and continuity that such a statement brings about. If I'm so sick and tired why did I volunteer to assist one of the producers with their rough cut script? Couldn't that time be better spent carousing?

There are very apparent warnings signs of alcoholism as described by many medical professionals. However, I find that there is a lack of research done in respect to another American plague: workaholism.

Clearly if you can be a "workaholic" then you can suffer from "workaholism".

I have taken it upon myself to aide in the diagnosis of these undetected cases of "all work and no play".

In order to demonstrate the realities of this epidemic I have taken an excerpt about signs and symptoms of alcoholism and reversed certain key words\. For example, every time the word 'drink' or 'drinking' appears I have replaced it with 'work' or 'working'. Likewise, for a sentence like "person is shirking their responsibilities in order to drink" I would change it to "person is shirking their drinking in order to work". Because a true workaholic frequently blows off their friends and social events in order to work.

So here it is.....

Signs and Symptoms of Workaholism

There are many signs and symptoms related to working problems. Workaholism is considered a progressive disease, meaning that the symptoms and effects of working become increasingly more severe over time.

Those who over-work may begin to show early signs of a problem, then progress to showing symptoms of work abuse; if working continues, they may later show symptoms of workaholism or work dependence.

Early Signs of a Problem

Early signs of workaholism include frequent overtime, an established pattern of heavy working and working in dangerous situations, such as when driving [One word. Bluetooth.]. Other early signs of workaholism include black-out working ["Oh, wow I didn't mean to miss - insert landmark event (Example: birth of my first-born child)- I lost track of time!"] or a drastic change in demeanor while working, such as consistently becoming angry or violent.

Symptoms of Work Abuse

The main symptom of work abuse occurs when someone continues to work after their working reaches a level that causes recurrent problems [Too much time at the office and not at the gym? Anti-social?] . Continuing to work after it causes someone to miss fun, drive-work, shirk drinking or get in trouble with the law [Embezzlement anyone?] is considered work abuse.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, IV, defines work abuse as working despite work-related physical, social, psychological, or occupational problems, or working in dangerous situations, such as while driving. The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases refers to "harmful use" of work, or working that causes either physical or mental damage in the absence of work dependence. In other words, work abuse is any harmful use of work.

Symptoms of Workaholism

For someone who is a workaholic or work dependent, the symptoms include all of those associated with work abuse (above). But workaholics also continue to work in spite of all the problems it has caused in their lives [Divorced? Loner? Diet of takeout and delivery? Wealthy but no time to use money? A year worth of vacation days banked up?].

When work abuse reaches the work dependence stage, the person also experiences at least three of seven other symptoms, including neglect of other activities, excessive use of work, impaired control of work consumption, persistence of work use, large amounts of time spent in work-related activities, withdrawal symptoms and increased tolerance of work.

Yikes. No thanks.

So if you have positively diagnosed yourself as a workaholic suffering from workaholism here's your treatment.
1. Turn off your laptop/blackberry/smart phone/work cell/pager/PDA (however the office contacts you)
2. Find a friend  - provided you haven't completely cut yourself off from all of them (maybe you should call them before you turn off your phone)
3. Have friend (replace 'friend' with 'local bartender' if necessary) remind you how to have fun. *
4. Do yourself a favor and don't switch from one addiction for another.

*if you or your friend are at a loss, try alcohol. Other "holics" swear by it.

Glutton for punishment or believer in karma?

A week a go I finished a 90 day internship in Times Square that was non-paying. That means I dragged my sorry... self... to Manhattan everyday, spending approximately $20 a day on NJ Transit, then walked 15 blocks just to get to the office (which normally wouldnt bother me but the temperature the past 3 months was unnaturally cold) AND it was during the holiday season so I dealt with more tourists than a travel agent (cause let's be honest everyone just books online these day. Can you say obsolete?). And that doesn't even cover the stuff I endured at the actual internship, which I will be sure to go into detail about at a later time.

Tonight was my second night as one of three Production Assistants for an Off-off-Broadway theater production, and foolishly enough I never asked about compensation before I took the job! So now I'm not sure if my travels to Hoboken to park my car and take the PATH train into NYC (averaging about $15 a day) is worth it. It's true I get out of the house and get to be in the East Village instead of New Providence, but I'm penniless. And yes, like the previous gig I do gain experience, but let me assure you, experience will not feed you or cover your rent (as my parents frequently like to remind me).

I found myself asking myself if I am a glutton for punishment or if the reason I am working and absorbing expenses for no pay is because I believe in karma.

Will the longer and harder I suffer now somehow be righted by the universe in the future with success? Why don't I take the hours I'm spending on these jobs and go and get a retail or waitressing job? Do I really think these jobs are going to get me somewhere in the future? Or am I kidding myself entirely? Maybe the reason I didn't ask about compensation for this job is because I've resigned myself to the fact that I will not be paid until I've done something remarkable to really deserve it.

Ironically, the temp job I had from July to October paid pretty well but was so mind-numbingly monotonous that a chimpanzee could do it. Plus, I had to field calls from all over the world from young teeny boppers looking for Justin Bieber, so I guess they have to pay you to deal with that.

So, am I an example of self-inflicted pain? Or an advocate for justice and a higher power?