1. No Money, Mo' Problems
Seazon 1: Episode 1
I tell you a little about myself and some of the current problems that life has thrown my way. I also make a few awkward jokes so...yeah. Enjoy!
Transcript
[00:00:00] Ok everyone this is Catch Some Z's.
[00:00:03] I thought I was clever because I love to sleep and my name starts with a "Z" but hopefully I'll get a little bit more creative as time goes by. This podcast platform is really serving as an extension of me trying to be consistent with journaling. Even though that is not happening. I've got some pages up on Word of things that I've been feeling and talking about and ideally I'm just gonna try to use my experiences to perhaps help those in need. As far as - you know - if you ever feel like you alone in this world going through something I promise you you're not. So thank you for tuning in if you are here. (Shout out to my main ones) If anyone doesn't know me, hopefully you do like me after listening. Or maybe you don't have to. Whatever. I don't care. Maybe I do a little bit... But I'm gonna get right into it and I'm just going to talk about what it's like being broke especially being broke after graduating college about 10 days ago and that really awkward in between period when you are trying to find a job or you have a job that's coming but you still have bills that need to be paid and no income etc etc. So we're gonna get into that in a little bit.
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[00:01:16] So as you can hear I have a podcast but starting it wasn't necessarily the easiest decision for me to make because I had no idea about what an RSS feed was, how to go about distribution, and on the off chance that the podcast became successful. I didn't know about how to go collecting sponsorships and - you know - getting paid. But then all of those answers came to me when I found Anchor. I'm going to tell you a little bit about it. So Anchor is a one stop shop for recording, hosting, and distributing your podcast. The best part is it's 100 percent free, super easy to use, and now anchor can match great sponsors who want to advertise on your podcast. Which means that you can get paid to podcast right away which is pretty much what I'm doing now. So if you ever had an inkling for doing a podcast, if you ever had the thought cross your mind, I definitely recommend Anchor. It's great. It's a mobile you can record directly from your phone. It's got great analytics on the Web site. It's just... It's truly the one stop shop. So if you're interested and you want to make money with a podcast of your own go to anchor.fm/start to join me and a diverse community of podcasters already using Anchor. That's anchor.fm/start. Ok. Don't say I never did anything for you.
[00:02:39] So back in January I was really stressed because I was looking at my bank account and I realized that I had a lot of ambitions for my spring semester of senior year that were not going to come to fruition basically because - no - one 100 percent because I didn't have the funds to do so.
[00:02:55] I have an on-campus job and - you know - that takes care of what it takes care of. But - you know - we tend to be a little...We tend to be a little extravagant sometimes when it comes to what we want to do especially when you see your peers doing - you know - really fun things, going on fun spring break trips, and things like that and then you realize you've got what like 72 cents in your wallet or in your bank account. So that's not really too fun. But I'm a person of action so when I realized this was an issue I said, alright. Let's see what I can do. Can I get - do I have time for a part time job? You know and miss classes and miss my involvement on campus and I was looking, I was searching, and I was applying and I got really discouraged because
[00:03:41] As so often happens in the past - at least with me - I can apply to jobs on the Internet or go into a place and be like "Hey are you hiring" and I get all the information but no you don't get hired. And when you're strapped for cash it can be very discouraging. I have a part time job - you know - when I'm back home and not at school but the only reason I even got that job was because I was able to name drop a past employee who was a friend of mine. And this summer thankfully I was able to work that part time job as well as a little bit of an internship but again I got the internship because I knew somebody and - you know - it's definitely really discouraging when you've got credentials and you've got skill set but you can't land yourself in places because of one reason or the other and you know my name is "Zanaiya"
[00:04:28] So when I submit my resume I'm automatically stressed out because I'm thinking - you know - well they see this ethnic looking name sometimes people just throw the whole resume away without even giving it a second thought you know what I mean? And that's something that I had to deal with and a lot of stress or anxiety was built around that because I'm like All right well I'm about to graduate and potential employers don't know me on a personal level.
[00:04:51] So how many times am I going to get told "no" simply off of you know just really ridiculous reasons.
[00:05:00] And it took a lot for me to work through that.
[00:05:04] I'm not going to lie I'm still working through it now but it definitely took a lot for me to get to the place where I'm at now with that and it also helped me I guess take into consideration or - you know - it's a humbling experience is what I'm trying to get at.
(It's so hard.)
[00:05:26] Anyway in light of my broke college kid problems I decided to - you know - look at the bright side or reframe the situation essentially. So I was applying to places I was getting denied. I wasn't hearing back. Whatever the case was. I applied to a bank actually guys that I applied to a few years ago and last time I applied I did not hear anything back at all. And I applied this year. It was really convenient - you know - I was up the street from my school I could do it. I major in business so it made sense and I got an email back and they told me no. And I called my mom immediately and I was like You know what?
[00:06:01] That's what I call growth because before they didn't answer me and now they told me no you know what I mean? And it's so silly but at the end of the day you have to do what works best for you. So since I wasn't working I took that initiative and I started spending a lot of time on campus and just getting involved in a lot of different things and joined committees put on different programming and just became a better student, a better leader, and a lot of good came out of that which I'll talk about in some future episodes. But the whole point is you know. Setbacks. I feel like are just - you know - they're just prepping you for comebacks you know what I mean? So sure I could be sad that I'm broke and I don't have a job or I can take that energy that I would spend being sad and crying and not doing anything and putting myself in places where I don't have to spend money but I can still have a good time and I can still make an impact and I can still do something that fulfills me. And that's exactly what I did. And this semester my roommates and I took a trip to Washington D.C. - You know - we got on the Airbnb wave and spent I don't really remember the number but it was something that I was comfortable spending.
[00:07:11] And that I was able to spend on a trip to D.C. which I had never done especially with my friends like that. And I've gone to a slew of brunches because I was able to afford it. You know I learned how to budget my money so that I could do the things that I enjoy without sacrificing my responsibilities. And I had an awesome semester because of it. And my advice to everyone here and anyone who's listening.
[00:07:35] (all three of you) just make the most of your situations. You know what I mean? There is an awesome song by teen pop sensation Hannah Montana and she said "Life's what you make it so let's make it rock. Let's make it rock." That's exactly what I did. And I'm all the better for it. So that's just my little piece of advice.
[00:07:58] It's hard being in college and being broke and not having a job lined up for you when you graduate and not having the support system in your family the way you'd like to. Like whether it's financially whether it's emotionally whatever the case is.
[00:08:10] But if you are able to successfully reframe a situation and make everything work for you in the best way that you can go ahead and do it man college is a joke. It's a big scam and it's also a lot of fun if you're able to do it. So don't let - you know - the pressures of the society around you and the people around you get you down because they don't matter they do not matter. Only thing that matters is you and your happiness and your fulfillment. But that's all I've got for you right now. So let me know if you have any experiences being broke and being sad but then - you know - switching the situation around I'd love to hear it.
[00:08:46] So this is the part where I close out this is going to be probably the shortest episode ever simply because this is the first one and - you know - the first one is gonna be a little bit special. I leave you with this:
[00:09:00] Please go to www.youtube.com type in “SNL Raz P. Berry skit” and you should see a thumbnail of Donald Glover.
[00:09:15] Please watch the video because it's stuck in my head. I can't get over it. And I was crying the first time I saw it the second time I saw it and the subsequent times. So I leave you with that. Make sure to stay tuned in. We got a lot more episodes coming.
[00:09:30] A lot of great viewpoints. And - you know - as I grow and develop and become wiser hopefully I become a little bit funnier too. Keep up the good work everyone and remember like we said. Hannah Montana said Life's what you make it so make sure you make it rock. Otherwise I'm pretty sure she'll be disappointed wherever she is. Has anyone heard from her lately?
[00:09:47] I don't know. I'll look into that. Anyway. Thanks a lot guys. I'll catch you on the next one. Bye!