Journal Journeys 1996

These are my journal entries from 1996.  That was the year when things started to change for me, and for the better.  At the start of the year, I am floundering with odd jobs (or no job) and bouncing between make-shift living arrangements; by year's end, I am an undergraduate student living in a college dormitory.  I already had a two-year degree before leaving Michigan, and pursing higher education was not the reason why I moved to New York.  I wanted to live someplace exciting, and I was hypnotized and mesmerized by the bright lights of the big city.  But my life was at a complete standstill and I was going nowhere and making no progress.  Returning to college was a game changer for me, because it brought much-need security and stability at a time in my life when I had virtually none of it.  In a sense, it grounded me, and that was exactly what I needed at that time.  Though I still had struggles, looking back on it, those few short years proved to be the happiest time I spent in New York City.