Growing up as more of a “Northern California Girl” I always felt like I needed to experience Southern California for all it obviously had to offer. When the right time was though, was the question. At a certain point when I wasn’t able to make the move to Santa Barbara City College after high school to play soccer while attending classes, and needing time to work, I knew the move would have to come later after I had time to learn how to be an actual self-supporting and world-maneuvering adult. Flash forward to wrapping up community college in Northern California (at age 24) when I had the choice to apply to Sacramento State University or the quixotic destination school: San Diego State University. I only had a few schools in the state I could apply to with my major. The other two being Long Beach and Chico State. Never had a thing for Long Beach and I definitely didn’t want to stay in Northern California at Chico. So I applied to SDSU. I did not get accepted my first time… waited a year and finally got accepted. I knew my life was about to change when I first read that letter. I screamed with joy. But boy did I have some rude awakenings coming my way. That’s a story for another time. But needless to say, all the tribulations have been more than worth it. I absolutely love the ocean and weather here, and more than that my love for California, no matter where, persists. I love being able to go back to Northern California where my family is and still enjoy that climate and scenery. The question that remains for me, now that I will be graduating in 4 months is: Where to next? Or do I want to move? This is also a topic for another time, but I have so many darn hobbies, interests, talents, and skills, now that I have done my time in the state school system, that I almost feel hesitant to lock myself into one thing! I truly would love to create my own business. And of course, the spa will always be on my brain until I have the means to bring it to fruition. But until then, and while in Europe (for 2 months!) after I graduate, I will be continuing to look at jobs along the southern west coast of California, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, and heck maybe even Italy. Why not? I’ve got nothing tying me to one place. So, by perusing business’ websites and looking at their job opportunity sections and eventually applying to a few, we will have to just wait and see where I land! …Or that’s the plan for now.

Check out this interesting article about what it means for a city’s future when it comes to where college graduates decide to make their home base after they graduate: Where Young College Graduates Are Choosing to Live – NYTimes.com. My favorite line in the article was by an Economist professor at Harvard, “The most successful economic development policy is to attract and retain smart people and then get out of their way.” Hah! Awesome. I agree. Have we let that happen yet? Or is smart relative?