Why hello there! Come here often?

Yeah, me neither.

Anyway, if you’ve never met me before, my name’s Jen! Born and raised in Pennsylvania, USA, I’ve always had grand visions and dreams with no real idea of how to achieve them.

I’m hoping this is my first step.

To introduce myself better, I’m a 26-year-old female. I went to college and got a Bachelor’s degree in education, followed immediately by a Master’s degree in Reading, Writing, and Literacy that allowed me to be a reading specialist for children.

2 years and one horrible teaching experience later, I’ve realized I have no real drive or desire to be a teacher, much less to be locked in as one for the rest of my life.

Which is what brings me here! After attempting and failing to find a job as a reading specialist for the 2022-23 school year, I decided to apply to Starbucks to be a barista, a job I’d done at a different cafe and absolutely loved during my undergrad. While at first I was hesitant and felt like I was “wasting my life and potential away, yada yada, why aren’t you using your degrees,” I found myself to be much happier working this job than I ever was teaching. The amazing friends I made there certainly helped.

It was a bittersweet end there, feeling ready to make this enormous and grand move, but also regretting having to leave the people I’ve loved for so long, and also the ones I have only just become close with and love immensely.

At this point in the overlong monologue, you may ask, “what move?” Well, my friend, I’m moving to New Zealand (temporarily) on a working holiday visa. Why/when/how I obtained it is a story for another time. This allows me to live in New Zealand for a year, and work any job that isn’t considered “permanent.” To me, this means that I can try my hand at any job my heart may desire. Work on a farm and see what that’s like? Hell yeah. Work on a winery and spend my days drinking and sharing the beauty of wine with others? Hopefully that isn’t a far-fetched fantasy of my own making.

Although I’ve been sitting on this visa for almost a year, I’m heading to New Zealand with no set plan. I only just obtained a place to live about 2 weeks before my launch date, much to my parents’ enjoyment.

So if you’ve read this far, or you already know me and got a re-run of Jen’s highlights, welcome to the shit show. I hope we have fun together along the way.