My love affair with New York is like the stories you hear of couples that met in kindergarten, not realizing until twenty years later they were the one. My first encounter with NYC was when my family first arrived to America. We were connecting to MIA via JFK. My mom tells this part of the story better, but as we were flying over New York and passing the Statue of Liberty people got up to look out the window to see it. It was my first plane ride (1990) and I was terrified of everyone’s movement to the windows. In an apparent attempt to save myself I hide under my seat. We didn’t leave the airport but as they say … there was something in the air.
As the years passed our family vacations switched from Disney to real cities. In the winter of 2000 we drove up to NJ/NY to visit family friends. We planned to “hang out” in Times Square for the ball drop but, around 10pm my mom got cold and no amount of begging would stop us from spending the New Year in someone’s living room … in New Jersey.
When I was able to purchase my own plane tickets I would visit the city almost four times a year. Each departure made my heart heavier with saddess.
Five years into my “professional” career I had it. I wasn’t working with motivated colleagues and my routined life drove me nuts. I would wake up at 7:31am, leave at 8:32am, clock in at 9:00am, clock out at 6:01pm. What life was this? I was stuck in a place where I wasn’t able to grow in my career. In 2012, I planned a last minute trip to visit a friend in Australia. It was there among the winding Great Ocean Road that I read the “Alchemist” and realized I was doing it all wrong. You can’t dream of a journey and hope it starts without you taking the first step and the only person that can ever really get in your way is yourself.
I returned to Miami a few days later. On my first day back to work I made a real hard attempt to finish the day. However by 10am I already drafted my two weeks notice. As I waited for my supervisor to call me into her office, I booked my one way ticket to New York. Later that night I divided my apartment into 4 groups (take, mom’s, trash or donate) as I prepared to start my quarter life crisis.
October 6, 2012 I arrived to New York City, where an air mattress behind my friend’s TV awaited me. The next few months I would spend attending networking events, volunteering and picking up freelance work. I was the happiest person on earth, my schedule was flexible, my new friends diverse. Then on a spring day in March 2013 I received notice that NYU accepted me as a Master’s candidate in a program I dreamed of attending for five years. Slowly my dreams started coming true, one foot forward at a time and by taking a chance on myself.
The education I received at NYU’s ITP wasn’t all wires and software it was about understanding the human condition. How do we interact with technology and how does that technology makes our lives better? It is sometimes called the “center for the recently possible” so upon graduation I founded Luma Legacy with Karol Munoz. We are a team of ladies interested in changing the future of jewelry. I’m happy we’re taking this journey together, with curious feet.
