Category: Blog

In an effort to better practice many of the points I’m about to delve into, I’ve comprised a list of things to do when you’re unemployed and sick of it. I have recently been freelancing for different publications, but in terms of official employment, I would much rather do 8 hours a day to keep the broke doctor away, if you catch my drift.

With an economy recovering, at best, and underemployment for young professionals at record highs I have not been dealt the best hand in terms of a fruitful job market. However, when life gives you time off you find ways to make the most of it. That’s what I have been doing the past few months in order to make the time off more bearable and less boring, unproductive, and excruciating.

I’ve realized something about myself in the past few years: the only thing I do better than party my ass off is work my ass off. So after a couple of months without a day job it has gotten very frustrating to have no day job to dedicate my time to. Usually my schedule between good times on weekends and productive hours on weekdays would work itself out pretty nicely. For example, as with most people, working from Monday-Friday produces enough income for whatever you wanted to do on any given weekend, and with every paycheck cycle the sequence would repeat. When unemployed, money never seems to stretch far enough, even when festivities on weekends are scaled down a great deal. It sucks, I know. Not only have I been there, I’m there right now still, sort of. Here are a few tips of things to do from someone who is still technically unemployed:

10. Relax.

Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world. You can’t find a job? Got laid off, or even fired? Great! Now you can begin a new adventure. Think of it that way, it could turn your frown upside down. Try doing little things daily to take your mind off the angst and stress. Try meditating, even if you’re not into it at first. Watch your favorite show or childhood cartoon. Hang out with your friends. Get out of the house. I can’t stress that last one enough.

9. Exercise.

I’m a bit guilty here of not practicing what I preach, but nevertheless getting a daily dose of exercise can make all the difference between a boring day with time inching along and a wonderful use of extra time. I haven’t been exercising daily in the conventional sense, but whenever I get some exercise in the endorphins kick in and nothing matters but that runners high or the satisfaction of finishing up a set. Exercise as much as you can when you’re unemployed. Who knows, you may land your next job at a modeling agency!

8. Clean.

Another one I need to work on myself. Keeping a clean home is just as rewarding as exercising daily. It’s a very productive hobby and will result in a beautiful and attractive living space, which will serve as a breath of fresh air if you’re frustrated with your job situation. If you have nowhere to go all day, you might as well keep the place clean.

7. Record a journal of some kind.

This is a great thing to do your whole life, not just when you’re unemployed. When you get home, just like you would clean for an hour or exercise, try writing for a little while. No matter your mood, try writing about it and how your day went. Express your jubilant thoughts – and dump your sad thoughts – into a journal or diary.  Write about absolutely anything you want, it will make hard times way more bearable and will eventually double as a nostalgic keepsake of a particular time in your life.

6. Spend time with family.

Family outings and hangouts can be a great way to take your mind off being unemployed. Above is a photo of me, my sister and several cousins at my uncle’s wedding this summer. Family members who are your age probably know exactly what you’re going through or have known at some point, and older famalams can offer insight and maybe even a connection to a new employment opportunity. You never know! Your crazy aunt from Minnesota may have a good surprise up her sleeve for a change!

5. Have fun!

This is a photo of my band and I performing last year. Aside from the shameless plug, I chose this photo because this is what I enjoy doing the most with my free time. Whether it’s rehearsing, recording or playing live my favorite thing to do is to play music with my band. What do you like to do most? Don’t tell me, do it! Do whatever makes you happy when you’re unemployed and have nothing to do, it will make such a big difference. Aside from playing music, I love writing, hence, I’m writing right now to kill time and add to my blog. See what I mean? I’m having an awesome time being unemployed, at least at this particular moment. Woo!

4. Work on acheiving other goals.

One goal I have in mind is obtaining a Master’s Degree in Spanish. In my time off I’ve visited colleges and asked about their programs as well as have started refreshing my knowledge of the language by working on a self-teaching advanced Spanish grammar workbook. You can do the same, whatever your goals are outside of getting a job, work on them in your time off. It will pay off greatly and may even help you land something better than you thought you could, job-wise.

3, Polish your skills.

Right now, I’m working on my writing skills. I play guitar and sing at least for 20 minutes or so a day. I practice speaking, writing and reading Spanish almost every day and also practice French sometimes too. What things are you good at? What did you go to school for? What do you like to do that can you can use work on? Try doing at least one thing that fits into each of those questions.

2. Volunteer your time.

This is the next best thing you can do for yourself besides landing a new job.  Volunteer work looks amazing on a resume and can provide skills and experiences necessary to land the next job you’re hoping to do. Can’t find a job? Try helping out somewhere. Anywhere that needs help and has a setting that you can learn new skills from, or could just make a positive difference. I volunteer my time at Soka Gakkai International – USA’s Culture Center. I learn how to basically be a part of a security detail and building maintenance team, all while learning more about Nichiren Buddhism. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. Get out there and find a resume building, skill learning and awesome volunteer experience!

1. Apply to jobs!

If you’re complaining about being unemployed and haven’t applied to any jobs, punch yourself in the face. Right now. That was from me.

Now brainstorm: what kind of job am I looking for? What are my short term and long term goals? Do I need a job or have time for a job right now? How practical would it be to land job type A over job type B?

Make a list of at least 10 employers you would like to work for. Apply to all of them ASAP. Keep looking for opportunities that fit your needs and wants at all times and all places possible.  If you start feeling like there’s no hope and you want to bang your head against the wall, try suggestions 2-10 but eventually get back this one.

I hope this list helps in your crusade for employment. Even if it seems like there’s no hope, don’t despair. The more you apply, the better chances you have and doing things that are productive and also fun can help your chances of landing your dream job, or any job, tremendously. Hope you find something soon! -RSM

I tend to be very ambitious when setting goals for myself. Especially in recent years I’ve adopted a ‘shoot for the moon’ mentality when writing down my dreams. In the word of an Emmett Smith biography I read in grade school, “Goals are just dreams until you write them down.”

Here are a few goals I would like to accomplish within a the next few years in my life:

– Complete a master’s degree in Spanish

-Complete a Ph.D in Linguistics

-Be fluent in 6 different languages in 6 years.

-Publish a novel within the next 3 years.

This is the first step in becoming a linguist. I want to master my native tongue at the level of an academic in order to better communicate with other Latinos, have better marketability in the job market and for personal peace of mind.  I’ve always wanted to be fluent in Spanish and have made leaps and bounds in learning the language as an undergrad.  I would like to eventually travel to Latin America when my Spanish skills are developed enough to get around by myself.  This will open the door to my next two goals. I would like to enroll in a New York City based college or university by the Fall of 2014 for an M.A. in Spanish.

-Complete a Ph. D in Linguistics.

I’ve always dreamed of speaking mulitple languages, and using this knowledge to travel the world.  I figured there’s no better way to study language than the field of linguistics.  I see it like this: I’m a musician and in order to learn how to play any instrument, one must have a working knowledge of music theory. Linguistics is the music theory of language.  This goal may take a while to complete but rest assured it will happen eventually.

-Be fluent in 6 languages in 6 years.

Although it may sound very challenging on paper, this goal will work hand in hand with the first two.  I’ve picked up different languages while studying abroad very fast and have learned that full blown immersion is the best way to learn a language.  I want to be able to speak, write, read and understand Spanish, French, Japanese, Cantonese, and Arabic apart from already knowing English.  With any of those three languages mastered, I could land a job translating, pehaps even for the U.N. That would be amazing. I figured I have 6 years and change to master 5 languages, 2 of which I have studied before and one (Spanish) I already know pretty well.  My goal is to be fluent in all of these by the time I’m 30.

-Publish a novel within the next 3 years.

My lifelong goal has been to become a published author. Techinically I have many published works already in the field of journalism, but I would like to take my authorship a step further into the realms of fiction and non-fiction.  I would love to write any and every kind of novel, and already have a few solid ideas and short stories to build on.  Although many may say print is dead, that is not the case at all for the written word itself.  The way I see it, like many industries the publishing industry is being changed by recent technological progress we have acheived as a society and will continue to grow albeit in a slightly different avenue from that of the traditional.  Whether it’s in print or if it’s on a Nook or Kindle, my goal is to become a bestselling author at some point in my life.

Hopefully one day I’ll look back at this post and reminisce about my journey toward accomplishing all of these.  I guess until then, I’ll have to take it step by step and hope, and work for the best outcome. Peace -RSM

Consider this a bit of a warning, juxtaposed with a ‘those were the days’ kind of piece. Kids, in the summer of 2008 I began my first semester of college at St. John’s University. It was awesome. I lived in the residence halls my first year and a half, went to Europe for the length of my 4^th semester and joined a fraternity the following year. I kept my grades in good shape until my tomfoolery got the best of me.  My grades began to decline while the good times increased; with my eyes nowhere near the prize I inevitably lost sight of the main goal, which was graduating with the credentials and honors needed to make me stand out in the job market.  Although I made up for lost time in epic fashion I still fell short of my ultimate goal and consider my time as an undergrad, albeit an experience of a lifetime, an academic failure, due to a lack effort and a skewed set of priorities which led to an imbalance of fun over work. Don’t get me wrong; I still graduated, I still had fun, still went to a great school and made lasting connections, had memorable experience and learned a lot. Some may call me a perfectionist, but I feel like I could have done better. This sentiment haunts me every time I apply for job, look at my degree or reminisce about the times where my pen and paper should have been busier than my party schedule.

I started out strong my first two years at St. John’s. After my first four semesters I had a 3.2 GPA and had a few academic organization memberships under my belt, not to mention the study abroad trip of a lifetime which sent me to three different European cities over a span of four months.  The following year, my junior year I joined a fraternity on campus, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for all the right reasons (no sarcasm intended). I learned about my culture and historical background on an unprecedented scale and felt a new sense of pride in my Puerto Rican roots.  The catch, however was that once I finished my pledging process I stopped caring about my grades for that semester, the cardinal sin of being a neophyte, a.k.a. a new member of a fraternity or sorority.  As my ‘neo summer’ began, my stellar academic record’s golden age was coming to an end, and little did I know would enter a dark age which took several semesters, summer courses and CLEP exams to correct.

In the Spring of 2011 I let procrastination spill over into finals’ week, which is like a soldier going into battle unarmed. I was on an academic suicide mission all due to my own thirst for good times via wild parties, a thirst all fueled by my irresponsibility.  I failed three courses in the Spring of 2011, bringing my GPA down to a 2.8. I was devastated and disappointed in myself. I could have passed every course I had failed with a C at the very least. I knew I was harder working and more intelligent than to have three Fs show up on my grade report, but then again “Your grades are not given, they are earned,” said every teacher ever. I had never failed a course before in my life.

The following semester the pressure was on the redeem myself. It was my senior year, I was behind in credits and I was in danger of losing my partial scholarship. I balked epically at the chance, but had just enough success to barely keep me going.

I got caught up in the party life, this time worse than before. I was Jay Gatsby of St. John’s, focused on the vanity and the craziness that would not matter after I was finished with my undergraduate career. My grades, however, mattered very much and were declining at an ever more rapid rate. I passed 9 credits worth of CLEP exams to make up for the three classes I had failed the previous semester. The catch (there’s always a catch) was that I had to withdraw from all of my  classes in order to not completely ruin my GPA, except for one class that I had not fell completely behind in.

The stage was set in what I hoped would still be my last semester as a Johnnie before I graduated. After two semesters of crazy nights and horrible grades I took it upon myself to try and right my wrongs.  I took on 27 credits in one semester. That’s right, 27. I took 6 classes, amounting to 18 credits, plus 9 credits of CLEP exams. I was not easy and although I tried I fell slightly short, failing a class and earning 24 credits instead.  I toned down the good times in West Egg, although my shenanigan-ridden shindigs still went on from time to time.  I had 4 credits left before I graduated, enough to be able to walk across the stage with my class at the May 2012 commencement.

I felt like I didn’t deserve it. Any of it. All the praise I got that day, my family coming out to see me on campus, my sophomore and junior friends hugging me and saying “Congratulations!!” felt like a total sham.  Call me a perfectionist, but I felt like my commencement was ruined by no one else but the man in the mirror. I was determined to make that change and finish up strong.

The following semester I registered late and had no choice but to take 2 classes with professors that I was not on very good terms with; one professor I had not worked meshed well with and would often skip class and come in unprepared during my Spring 2011 semester, and the other professor was the only professor whose class I had failed during my 27 credit crusade. I had to juggle morning classes 3 times a week in Queens, a part-time job at Union Square in Manhattan and being part of a band complete with gigs all over the city, all the while living at the very top of The Bronx.

It was the best semester I ever had, save for my time Europe.  I came into the Fall 2012 semester deeply embarrassed that I was what the kids nowadays call a ‘super senior.’ I was surprised to find out that many 2012ers like myself had gone the ‘whole nine,’ semester-wise and I was not alone in my plight to finish a bit past the 4 year expectation.  I loved my classes. I studied diligently and really immersed myself in my coursework. I finished my final semester with an A- and a B+, the latter grade coming from the class I had failed the semester before.

I am now proud to say that I officially graduated with the class of January 2013. It wasn’t easy and wasn’t perfect, but I did what I had to do and got the job done.

A few lessons can be learned from my experience. I had many moments of self reflection, challenges galore as well as good times, ultimately forming a novel’s worth of memories and experiences to cherish. Here are some lessons that I learned in college, in a few short phrases:

“All work and no play make Jack dull boy, but no work and all play might make Jack fail out of school.”

“Life is what you make it; you get out what you put in.”

“Balance is the key to life.”

And my personal favorite:

“Redemption is sweet.” – RSM