Meet Camille in New York!
When I first visited New York City with my family over 2 years ago, I immediately fell in love with everything (yes, even the crowded places and the stinky subway) and told myself, “I want to experience living and working in this beautiful city. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”
After how many nights of staying up late trying to figure out ways to make my dream happen, I finally did it. It was a tough decision to make since I had no experience of being away from my family and never really got the chance to be independent. I was scared, anxious, and doubtful if I was really making the right decision. But I knew that stepping out of my comfort zone would help me grow in so many different aspects – professionally and personally.
Right now, I’m in a design agency in Manhattan, working as an Interactive Designer. I’m so grateful to be in a company that treats everyone with respect and trusts in each of our individual skills. Going to work never really feels like a task I’m obliged to do, but more of an exciting experience I look forward to every day. I get to learn from challenging tasks assigned to me, I get to collaborate with talented people in the creative industry, and most importantly, I get to learn how to be confident with my own work by presenting my ideas to the clients. Every day at work makes me realize how lucky I am to do the things I love doing the most while earning a living from it at the same time.
During my first few weeks at work, I was honestly having a hard time fitting in and communicating with everyone because of the language and culture barriers. But eventually, I was able to adjust and adapt by challenging myself to engage in more conversations, no matter how anxious it made me. Now, I get to hang out with some of my workmates after office hours, over dinner and drinks!
Never in my 24 years of existence had I experienced living on my own, so moving in a completely new and different place and environment scared the hell out of me. The thought of living in a beautiful city might be “the dream”, but in reality, it’s scary and overwhelming. But all the negative connotations come with wonderful experiences I learned a lot from. I’m currently living in an apartment with 3 other housemates, but we have individual private rooms, which is the perfect setup for me since I’m not technically alone, but I still have my own privacy. I learned how to cook real food, buy my own groceries, pay my own bills, budget my money, and do major house chores; most of them I wouldn’t be able to learn by myself at home (since we always have a maid at home who does everything for us).
There was a point where homesickness got the best of me. I almost made booked a flight back home. But when I started making friends and going out more, I was reminded of the beauty of the city I now call ‘home.’I can never run out of things to do, places to see, food to eat, museums to visit, and people to meet. I’m also lucky that my sister lives in Virginia, which is only a 5-hour bus ride away from New York so I always visit her at least twice a month.
Being in New York as a creative inspired me to do bigger things in the design industry; it made me fall even more with the career path I chose. Even after this experience, I still plan to continue working for big companies, hopefully with bigger and more challenging roles. Now I’m more confident that wherever I go or plan to work next (may it be in my home country or different countries), I have all the lessons, experiences and skills I need, which I acquired from this training program. This experience truly shaped me to be a better version of myself in all aspects, and I’ll always be grateful for that.
For those planning to work, study or get an internship abroad or anywhere outside of their comfort zone, my advice is— if it scares you enough, DO IT. You don’t know the lessons it’ll teach you and the experiences of a lifetime you’ll get. I always thought staying in my comfort zone would keep me safe, but it never really taught me anything significant. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself in the end.
Camille also created some fun and interesting vlogs about her experiences in New York!
