We called spoken word poet Sarah Kay an articulate force of nature in our Spring ’12 issue but you don’t receive the ultimate punch of her words until you hear and see her perform it for yourself.
The 23-year-old NY native, with her head full of curls and sunny dimpled grin, sucks us in the moment she speaks. She’s been a hit at 2011′s TED Conference and her hits keep coming. Check it out:
Hope her words leave you feeling inspired today!
When the Great Recession hit in 2008, millions were downgraded to part-time, furloughed or simply laid off. But if there’s one thing the recession has proven, it’s that sometimes a downturn in life can be a blessing in disguise.
ISSUE: Fall 2011
DEPT: Features
STORY: Shirley Lau
PHOTO: Kristy Lee & Luke Cho
It’s impossible to look in any direction without seeing someone playing the Words with Friends app on their iPhone or messaging a friend on their Blackberry. Despite government-issued checks being the sole source of income for many, it’s not hard to find restaurants with people waiting in a line that goes out the door, eager to spend their scavenged cash on a nice meal. It may look like the economy is getting better, but looks can be awfully deceiving.
Being unemployed or making a career change during what is considered by economists to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, is anything but an anomaly. As of this past summer, the unemployment
rate was nearly 10 percent, about 31 million people. And with constant fears of a possible double-dip recession, it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon.
So what is one to do when she’s living off unemployment and sending hundreds of résumés into a black hole? Some may choose to make a career out of being couch potatoes, while others are just trying to stay afloat, holding out for the day when they can make a career out of what they’re most passionate about. And then there are those fresh (and once fearful) faces who’ve changed their lives for the better — and they have the recession to thank for it.
A New Global Perspective
{ Cat Manabat, 25, Filipina American }
Previous job: Copywriter for start-up social media marketing company
Current job: English teacher
As a fresh college graduate from University of California, Irvine, Catherine Manabat wasn’t moving up at the start-up company she was at, despite being there for a year. Her paycheck barely managed to cover her school loans and monthly bills. And she had to sacrifice her freedom — without any residual income to live on her own, she was living back at home with her parents.
“It was very odd to come back [home] and try to assert myself as an adult-child, rather than a child-child,” says Manabat. “It can be a rocky transition for most. The obvious downside was I was still getting bothered almost all the time about going out, being out too much, being asked to run a lot of errands whenever they saw I had any free time, and not really feeling like I had my own space.”
So she decided to make a big move. Not to another state or across the country, but to Korea.
It seemed like the most viable solution to her money woes. As an English teacher in Korea, she has her rent paid for, finally has health insurance, is paid overtime and gets more vacation days.
“Life in Korea is great, and I enjoy my independence and the perspective it is giving me,” says Manabat. “It may be cheesy, but this experience helped me realize this dream, and also propels me to consider the world — and not just my neighborhood — in my future.”
Dream Job to Having a Life
{ Celena Cipriaso, Filipina American }
Previous job: Writers’ assistant for All My Children
Current job: Ad sales, freelance writer
It was always Celena Cipriaso’s dream to work for a soap opera, especially All My Children — the show she’d been watching since she was only 5 years old. So when she was laid off as a writers’ assistant after four years, she was heartbroken … and in a financial bind. Her annual income dropped by $15,000 — almost a third of her previous salary.
“I kind of fell apart,” she says. “I totally panicked. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t panic.”
Dozens of employees were a part of the unexpected mass layoff, some who had even been a part of
the show since its inception, says Cipriaso. She planned on making a career out of her job “until I died or [soap operas] died,” she says. Luckily, the show gave Cirpriaso a few gigs as a writer, which helped tide her over as she waited for unemployment to start rolling in. But that position, too, was short-lived — though monetarily it was worth three months of pay doing what she did as a writers’ assistant. “I felt like I was getting laid off for the second time,” says Cipriaso.
In order to pay her bills, Cipriaso took an ad sales job through a temp agency. “It forced me to be
very conscious with my money [and] look at my budget,” she says. Yet despite the smaller paycheck, Cipriaso is more satisfied with her life. At her old job she worked endless hours. “It never used to be daylight out when I got home,” she says. “My husband would be sleeping. I would see my husband on the weekends.” Now that the layoff forced her to find another job (“When I get really comfortable with a place, I love to stay. I never challenge myself for the next thing,” she says), she gets to spend more time at home while she freelances and works a straight 9-to-6 job.
Check out our behind the scenes video of Mindy Kaling’s Audrey Magazine cover shoot!
What did you think of the photos from the shoot?
Patty Chang Anker and her immigrant family knew one path to success — the academic one. So when she discovered her adopted daughter had special needs, she learned to step back, let go and just breathe.
ISSUE: Summer 2011
DEPT: My Story
STORY: Patty Chang Anker
“I’m not going to college,” G de- clares. She is 9 years old.
“What?” My voice sounds calm, but I’ve stopped breathing. “Why?”
“I’m not going, and I don’t want to talk about it.” She walks away.
“Oh, yes you are!” I want to shout after her. But I don’t. Instead, I let the flood of questions, worries and heartache come.
We know there’s a story inside all of us just itching to get out.
The perfect excuse to sit around and daydream all day, calling it “work” has just arrived: Hyphen magazine and the Asian American Writer’s Workshop are presenting their annual Asian American Short Story Contest – the only national, pan-Asian American writing competition of its kind.
A continuing series by former ER writer Shannon Goss.
If I could travel back in time and have a tête-à-tête with my kid-self, I would say, “While in college, go on a study abroad. You’ll think your world revolves around what happens stateside, but it doesn’t. And while you’re at it, learn a foreign language. Oh, and take more creative writing classes.”
I would also add: “There are guys who won’t treat you right and will break your heart. Wait it out. Good things happen during the writers’ strike of ’07.”
At that point, my kid-self would ask, “What do you have to do with a writers’ strike?” And that’s where I, self-proclaimed nerdy square-pants, get to look cool in front of my younger self.
As a kid, I had Tiger Beat posters on my wall. I wrote fan letters and, like Joanie, I loved Chachi. According to my diary, I also loved John Stamos.
So, when I joined the ER writing staff, I got to meet the guy I first knew as Blackie on another hospital show. After dropping the “John Stamos is my co-worker” bombshell, I imagine my kid-self would gloss over the fact that I landed a coveted job I had long pursued and go straight to, “Why aren’t you two married?” My kid-self apparently has an inflated sense of how much mojo I have as a grown-up.
I would explain that I have a boyfriend who I love very much. Boyfriend? As recently as college I imagined my 30s to include a husband and children, to which I say “boyfriend and dog” are the new “husband and children.”
So while my kid-self bombards me with questions about why I’m not yet married, I would distract her with tidbits such as: The man who created your favorite show, Laverne & Shirley, guest starred on this ER show (which made Jo Polniaczek’s boyfriend on The Facts of Life a huge star). And during a table read you will get to read opposite him. That’s right, kid-self; you will run lines with Garry Marshall.
And speaking of The Facts of Life, your second episode of ER featured Charlotte Rae, TV’s Mrs. Garrett. You will have and use Mrs. Garrett’s phone number.
I’m not sure how my starry-eyed younger self would handle this onslaught of awesomeness. To know that as an adult I would live blocks away from the man who played Jameson Parker’s brother on the TV show Simon & Simon?
“You mean, the guy who played AJ Simon’s brother? The AJ Simon I named my gerbil after?”
“Yes, that guy.”
Side note: I just realized Jameson Parker is two years younger than my parents. It’s a little weird to think that had things worked out as I had once hoped, I’d be married to a full-fledged member of the AARP.
Life is funny. I may not be able to hold a conversation in any other language or say I have ever lived abroad, but I can say that I’ve met Judd Nelson. And that’s saying something.
– Shannon Goss
Audrey Magazine's latest issue.
That’s right! Audrey Magazine is looking to fill the following positions:
1. One (1) Writer/Assistant Editor (Part-time)
2. Two (2) Editorial Interns (Part-time)
Be a part of a dynamic, fast-paced and friendly team here at Audrey Magazine. We’re a small company so you’ll be getting lots of hands-on experience!
We require a minimum of 20 hours/week, and you must be able to come into our offices in Gardena, Calif. at least twice a week, as well as attend various press functions, screenings and events.
If you think you’ve got what it takes, please submit your cover letter, resume and 2-3 writing samples (features, profiles and product reviews) to Editor@AudreyMagazine.com.
