Tag: young people

Why I Moved Back To My Home Town

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When I moved to Kingston back in 2013, a lot of people thought I wasn’t going to come back. I absolutely loved Kingston, I loved being 20 minutes from Waterloo but still only an hour from home. I didn’t have to bump into people that I went to school with, or be defined by mistakes I made. It sounds a bit silly but it was important to me at the time.

Kingston Life

So if all was so rosy, why did I come back? Surely there would be more job opportunities in the city, I loved the place so it would make sense to stay and that was the plan. Then Ali and I started looking at rent and realised pretty quickly with graduate salaries we weren’t going to be able to live somewhere nice. Whereas, at home, we could get so much more space for our money.

We came back and I got a job locally and the thought of commuting to London filled me with dread, and that’s before I understood Fibro! With every year that passed, we got further and further from moving back to Kingston. Staying here I have family around for when Ali goes on tour and we have more of a chance of getting a house at some point.

For such a long time I felt like moving back to my home town made me a failure. I came back, did it really prove anything? I’ll probably end up having my children in the same hospital I was born in, I see people I’ve known since I was a child on a regular basis. Did this mean I haven’t lived?

And really, I don’t think so. I think I needed to move away to know who I was, to grow up and let go of what I was holding on to from when I was younger. Now I’m back, I couldn’t imagine moving again. I love having my family in the same town, that I have my friends and my life here. These things have become more important than ever for me since Ali started touring.

I’m interested, have you stayed in your home town? Did you move away? Let me know!

Homeowner Dreams www.chloemetzger.com

Homeowner Dreams

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There was once a time when owning a home was a milestone that the majority of people reached. It was a milestone of growing up, something you did before starting a family. When my Mum and Dad bought their house in 1996, this was the case, they’d never even had to rent before. Skip forward more than 20 years and meet me, their eldest child, and part of generation rent.

Think back to when you’d ask people what they would do if they won the lottery. Buy flash cars, luxury holidays etc. Now, say you won 20K on the lottery, in the South East of England that might get you a deposit for a small house. Not the whole house, just a deposit on a house. This is what young people like us are facing.

Will Young People Ever Be Able To Afford Their Own Homes?

The majority of you reading this are in the same position, the prospect of being able to save enough to merely put down a deposit on a house is more than most 20-somethings make in a year in their area. But, don’t forget people think if we bought fewer sandwiches, we could make the sacrifices to find that money…I’m not kidding that’s a genuine article I’ve linked to.

I don’t know when, or how, owning a home became something seemingly unachievable for most young people. While some are able to live at home until they are in their mid-twenties and save, that is not the case for the majority of us. That and we want our own space, not to live with our parents until we’re between 25 & 30. I don’t go on expensive holidays, I don’t drive an expensive car (I saved for 3 years while at uni for my current car), I take lunch with me most days but I am still paying almost double a mortgage to live in a 1 bedroom flat.

While my partner and I try and work out how we will be able to manage to try to scrape together money to put towards our own home, the prospects look increasingly bleak. A lack of affordable housing and sky-high deposit payments are just the tip of the iceberg. We’re told to give up any luxury, move out of certain places where it’s cheaper etc, this is completely ignoring the issues at hand. Most of which centre around greed.

I know this might have come across as a rant but, truly, this is a post born out of frustration. It doesn’t matter how good you are with money, we’re going back to a state of working people missing out. If you are able to get help from wealthy relatives, you might make it. Although for the average person Homeowner dreams have become just that, dreams.

What are your thoughts on becoming a Homeowner? Have you managed? Let me know in the comments below!

Book Review: The Princess saves herself in this one – Amanda Lovelace

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‘warning I: 

this is not a 

fairy tale.’

I had heard so much about Amanda Lovelace’s collection of poetry. It was hailed a feminist book young women had to read, that spoke the truth and recreated poetry for our generation. I completely agree with this statement. It took me a little while to get my hands on it but I haven’t regretted it.

I wouldn’t call this a happy read as such, but it is one of struggle and perseverance. It is one of not being saved but saving yourself. It chronicles an important stage in a woman’s life, one that I’m personally going through still, where you try and work out who you are and let go of certain people.

This chronicles Lovelace’s life and is split into four parts; The Princess, The Damsel, The Queen and You. Each part looks at a different aspect of Lovelace growing up, how she felt at the time, whilst at the same time keeping the fairytale theme.  I thoroughly enjoyed the transitions into each because it didn’t feel fractured or like it ‘had to fit’.

I hope this is a new beginning in poetry made for and by young people to enjoy. Whilst I can appreciate some of the classics, after all my favourite poet is Sylvia Plath, we need new and exciting poets such as Lovelace to introduce more young people to a new form of poetry.

I gave this a 5 star review. This was a breath of fresh air in poetry and incredibly well written. I look forward to reading more of Lovelace’s work and to see what she does next.

Paid Internships Exist! Starting my job as a Social Media Coordinator

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We all know the problem with finding a job right? To get the job you need experience, to get experience you need a job. Now I know like the rest of the student population it can be ridiculously hard finding any kind of work experience/ internships. Today I was lucky enough to start mine!

Before getting super into social media I thought about going into teaching or magazine journalism. Now most of the time you need to ‘volunteer’ in schools so I did that under a scheme which luckily made sure I got a bursary payment as I was promoting the university. As for magazines, I am get to find a paid internship that are above minimum wage (seriously try travelling into central London and living on minimum wage while looking good enough to work at a magazine, nope, not happening). So I’ve always been a little cynical about becoming an intern, it’s something that more well off people seemed to be able to do, not people like me. Not any more!
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Ready to start this morning, trying out my new lipstick too! 

I applied for the position because firstly, it was paid, secondly, it’s something I’m interested in and thirdly I thought I might as well. I felt like I had a good build up and some experience that would get me an interview, but did I think I’d get it? No. I really didn’t. Although the interview went well I hadn’t had a proper sit down interview for a few years (they’ve all been group interviews for my last few jobs) and there were some questions to make me think. I left and tried to put it out of my mind, knowing that I would know by the end of the day. Then I got an email saying it would be at least another day, maybe more. At this point my spine was still making me sleep almost all the time so I didn’t think too much but the longer it got, the more I thought I hadn’t gotten it. So imagine my surprise when I got the email offering me the job and it would pay a little under what I’m earning as a Student Ambassador.

It was decided I’d start after going to Athens, fine by me seemed like aaaaaagggggeeeeesss away. Nope. Today rolled around and I had everything ready, woke up early, played with the hamsters but I was SO nervous. I couldn’t remember what medication I’d taken and didn’t want to take it again so I was flapping about that. I ended up going with just paracetamol for my back (in hindsight a BAD, BAD idea.) I was worrying, what would people think of my brace? Could I really do this job when I only have 400 followers? I was so nervous/ daydreaming once I got on the bus I nearly missed my stop altogether.

I shouldn’t have worried, I was very well looked after. I was introduced to everyone in the office, a lot of people happened to recognise me from the KU Talent Awards. I’m slowly learning peoples names but I think it will take me a while. I’ve been set up with a staff account, I’ll be getting a staff ID card and can use the canteen…god I’m such a dork. Everything was gone through slowly and my new boss is fab, she’s open to ideas as long as I have reasoning! I’ll also be able to meet some of the fab guest speakers we have coming up (beyond excited).

So I’ve really landed myself a great opportunity, doing something I love. I will still be a Student Ambassador and International Ambassador too! This is just something that is more specific to a career path if I decide that I want a break from academics. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

I wrote a post a while ago about being brave. This is it. If there aren’t any opportunities for what you want to do then go make some. Start a blog about your interests, do research just because and don’t give up. I never, ever thought I could be an intern and be paid a decent amount, whilst being treated like one of the team. People think that I just get given these opportunities sometimes but, I really don’t I work very hard and stay connected with people, it works!

I hope you all enjoyed reading today ( I know it’s been a long one!) and if you have any questions let me know below!