As I grow older and reconnect with friends and family, I noticed the conversations have shifted dramatically. As a young college student, many of my peers shared about their career aspirations and their dream splurges.
Although there are so countless ways to spend money in capitalist modern society, there are fewer conversations about financial responsibility and accumulating wealth long term.
As a millennial, I vividly recall moving into my college dorm at the tender age of 18 and assuming the world was my oyster. One of my classmates in community college summer school told me my world was my oyster and I believed her. I was indoctrinated into a cosmology that a college education opened many doors and that I would have options to pursue whichever path I choose.
The year I graduated from undergrad marked the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. For the first time, I experienced the effects of a major bottleneck in the job market. Although I was still a full-time student in teacher education, I knew the rules for success had changed. Reflecting back on my decade of professional training and advanced study, I adapted countless wellness and finance hacks that allowed me to thrive without sacrificing my quality of life or going deep into debt. In my upcoming blog series, I will share more anecdotes about how I shifted from being a hopeless, starving graduate student in one of the most expensive counties within United States to becoming my own boss.
Lilly C. Lew Ph.D. 