Everyone has at least one new year’s resolution, some more important than others. Some are achieved, and some are failed. For the year 2016, I don’t know that I have achieved or failed, but what I do know is that I have grown. This year, I have thrived on the opportunities at hand. Dedicating blood, sweat, and tears to reach this axis in life. The year 2016 held many changes for the entire general population, but these are a few changes I know one millennial in particular will never forget.
To begin, I just want to state that living in Colorado, especially as a single individual, is hard enough. The rent is expensive, the food is near impossible to afford, and don’t even get me started on the gas prices. At the beginning of 2016, I was working three part-time jobs, four if you included my weekend warrior extravaganza, and even though I did not have a degree under my belt, a regulated schedule, and my wages barely broke $13,000 a year, I was happy. I thought I was on top of the world. I had been promoted from associate to manager at Charlotte Russe, got a second job at Beauty Brands making ten dollars an hour (who could ask for more than that, right?), and I got a commissioned based job at a third party Verizon Wireless retailer. “How could I not afford to live here; I’m rolling in the dough!” The words I would tell myself every day. At least every day except for pay day.
I remember looking at my bank account every two weeks and having this agonizing feeling of disappointment. Even working 60 plus hours, I still wasn’t making enough money to live the life style I knew I wanted, let alone deserved. To be blatantly honest, I wasn’t making enough to live at all, at least not by myself. I could have gotten a roommate but I didn’t know anyone and was not willing to let someone I met on craigslist live in my home. Even then, I
didn’t let that stop me. I would go to work, come home, fry up some bologna, and sit on the computer constantly looking for good...