Gen Z Guide to FI

For school. For America, maybe. Dramatic but yes! Today is the last first day of school of my life (hopefully). I actually truly never want to do school again. But, in the wise words of JB, never say never. 

I am once again writing this from an airport as I can’t seem to find inspiration to write from anywhere else. As the end draws nigh, I am faced with the very real uncomfortableness of trying to find a job again.

I recently won a $10,000 scholarship for students looking to build a career in entertainment, which has bought me three more months to search for my “dream” role. I listened to The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho again last week and this felt like another omen. Like another sign from God and the universe to keep pursuing this sometimes irrational dream. I’m loosely paraphrasing but my favorite quote from the book is when you have a dream, the universe conspires to help you achieve it. 

On the financial front, I returned majority of my student loans because the thought of owing the government money MAKES ME SO MAD. I initially took out $40,000 and in the last month, I returned about $30,000. I feel more comfortable with $10,000 in loans. It feels like less of a burden on my neck. The loans covered my health insurance and the few trips I have planned in the first half of the year.

With the $10,000 scholarship, I have my basic expenses covered till May. I am estimating with some school jobs and tax refund, I can potentially cover my living expenses till July. At that point, if I’m still not employed, then I will might sell some of my stock.

I am giving myself till graduation to search exclusively for entertainment and media jobs. After graduation, I’ll expand and apply for whatever job fits my background. If I reach July and have to sell stock, it will be time to whore myself out to any job, mostly anywhere in the country. There is much uncertainty though in the job market, the country and the world. So, I am grateful to be making decisions from a position of financial strength. 

I want to take a moment to appreciate that I have been mostly unemployed for almost 2 years and will only (hopefully) graduate with $10k in student debt. So regardless of how things go from here, I have been really blessed and many goals and dreams have come to fruition. While I’m not ready to go back to the real world, I’ve had the time of my life and hope to end my MBA experience with a bang.

Now, I guess it’s time to see if miracles and luck can happen once again on the job search front. 

XOXO Gen Z Fire Baby