This past May, for the first time since completing my undergraduate education, I found myself making a living wage.  But a week into my fancy Upper East Side job, I knew it wasn’t going to work out.  The simplest explanation I could offer friends and family was that it wasn’t worth my life.

It had taken me a bit longer to realize what Kaitlyn Kochany learned right out of the gates.

Like many Americans, I spent the last three years toughing out low wages, abusive supervisors, and high stress positions in the spirit of retaining a job during the recession.

What I learned at my fancy job was that more money wouldn’t compensate for the unprofessional environments I had endured at previous firms. Good wages wouldn’t suddenly make the same kind of position a good job. Even if walking away from gainful employment meant exhausting my savings and borrowing a pile of student loans, it was time to bet on myself. Continue reading →