In the late morning of Friday, August 11, 2017, I found myself sitting on a sparse patch of grass next to an empty parking lot with six strangers and six massive bags. Just a week before, I had headed to the Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport in the earliest hours of the day with my glorious mother. My primary focus was not on the anxiety of moving across the country with only three pieces of luggage, two of which were quite small, but on my one, oversized rolling duffel. However, when it weighed in at one pound under the 50 pound limit, a feat I have seemed to conquer many a time, I let out a yelp as the woman at Southwest tossed it onto the conveyer belt. I promptly raced up the escalator, flounced through TSA, and found Bridget Carter waiting for me at the gate. It was 5 in the morning, and two recent Creighton grads from Minnesota were headed to New York to join the ranks of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
After a reflective and exhilarating week of orientation in Stony Point, a scenic town about an hour north of New York City, my community of seven waited for the bus that would bring us to Port Authority, smack dab in the middle of Manhattan, where we would then transfer to a subway that would bring us to Brooklyn. The bus was late, the community from Harlem joined us, and we continued to wait, half-joking about whether we should meander across the street and spend our first stipend-earnings on beers before we hit the road. We laughed as we saw the bus finally pull up. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out, we each heaved our suitcases underneath the bus, and sank into seats up top. Well, I thought as I watched the serene views of forests, rivers, and shrubbery transition to bustling pavements and concrete, here goes nothing.
It has been almost two months since I moved to Gotham. Side note – TimeOut New York, a free publication handed out around popular subway stations every Wednesday – regularly refers to New York City as “Gotham”. Like, I get that you want to employ a synonym, I use Thesaurus.com as much as the next person English major, but I’m reading the word “Gotham” a little too often for it to be a sly replacement. I mean, I have yet to see Batman lurking through the streets grunting, “WHERE IS SHE?” though I suppose if he’s, you know, Batman, he wouldn’t spend any time near the likes of me. Anyway, I’ll have called Brooklyn, NY (the best of the five boroughs) home come next Wednesday, October 11th (my birthday! Don’t you dare forget). And let me tell YOU, it’s been one hell of a time. As per usual, I’ve been meaning to write forever blah blah blah old news Caitlin’s always “meaning to write” when is she really going to get consistent with anything? Haha RIGHT?!
First, I started a new job! Huzzah, Caitlin entered the real world! She works 9 to 5! She a regular working gal! She’s a working gal that sets the dinner table when she gets home! She cooks! She cleans! Isn’t she just amazing? Wrong, wrong, wrong, it’s all wrong. I mean, I do do (lol “do do”), those things, but in cooler and much more sophisticated ways. For example, the first meal I made was a Minnesota classic, tater tot hotdish, and from then on out, I’ve managed to boil water and throw some ravioli in! I also made a mean Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken that I simply stuck in a skillet for 15 minutes. Awesome! Cue the thumbs up. I also usually don’t roll up to work until 9:30 or 10 because that is just the New York way. See, I’m a New Yorker now folks. Just because I’ve only lived here for hardly no time at all doesn’t mean I’m not practically a native. I never make eye contact with people on the subway and I spit on pigeons for fun! I’m not in your way, you’re in MY way! Never apologize for anything! Walk in the streets without a walk signal! Be a free, independent woman and buy yourself a pair of high-waisted vintage Levi jeans because you freaking deserve them! “YAS KWEEN.” – Ilana Wexler
I really hope you can feel the sarcasm dripping from every word, because that last paragraph is absolutely drenched in it. ‘Tis true, I did start a new job, and I actually do get to work around 9:30 or 10 every morning because New York runs on a bit of a later schedule. And I really like it. Watch me try to explain what I do in a ~*brief*~ summary: I work for Catholic Migration Services as a legal counselor on the Naturalization team, meaning I aid LPRs (Legal Permanent Residents, i.e. people with Green Cards) in applying for citizenship in the United States. This includes, among other things, screening them to see if they are eligible, and if they are, helping them fill out the 20 page N-400 application. It’s a lot of learning, and it’s not always easy, but the work is good. My colleagues are some of the smartest and most admirable people I have ever encountered. Yes, it can be draining, especially in the current political climate. In the first couple of weeks I was here, good ol’ Mr. Trump and his cronies decided to rescind DACA, so I, along with another Jesuit Volunteer and a Mercy Volunteer, frantically went through our agency’s DACA clients to verify who could and could not renew status. I can think of no way to describe it other than absolute insanity. But I also attended one of the biggest rallies I have ever seen in my life when Trump first made the announcement. People are hungry for revolution, and I feel incredibly thrilled to stand and work alongside them.
Aside from work, which I enjoy very much, New York is treating me like that friend who always asks you to be her plus one to a movie premiere or a restaurant opening or a music festival. I don’t know what it is, but New York has already lifted me off the ground and taken me on the adventure of a lifetime, and I never want to come down. If I am Khaleesi, New York is Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion all in one. And my housemates are the Unsullied and Amanda is Tyrion and Trump is Little Finger and…ok, too far. We all know Trump isn’t smart enough to be Little Finger. Honestly, though, from improv shows on Sunday nights at Upright Citizens Brigade, a Mets game at CitiField, a talk with Fr. James Martin on his new book, the Global Citizens Festival (where I saw Alessia Cara, Big Sean, Pharrell, Andra Day, The Chainsmokers, Green Day, The Lumineers, The Killers, AND Stevie Wonder perform all in ONE NIGHT), meeting Betsy Wolfe after seeing her perform in Waitress, sleeping on the streets for twelve hours and miraculously viewing Saturday Night Live LIVE FROM NEW YORK in Studio 8H…it’s all a dream. Oh yeah, and all of that was free. I do only make $100 a month, after all. #simpleliving
To tell you the truth, I think I am genuinely happier than I have been in quite a while. It’s unbelievable, really, waking up in the morning and feeling excited for the day, or simply not having that empty feeling in my stomach that something is irrevocably wrong, even if I can’t place what it is. I’m not having as many nightmares, I’m not as tired. I’ve felt joy, real joy, attending mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in Chelsea, strolling around Madison Square Park with Amanda, dancing to the Lumineers with Molly, boarding a ragged bus to Philadelphia with Anissa, Claire, Kat, and Eamon, laughing hysterically with my community members at our misfortunes with bed bugs (New York pro-tip: don’t get bed bugs. Just don’t do it, no matter how fun it looks. Oh sure, your neighbor on the floor below you from Kansas City who spent the summer at his art studio in Beijing when he’s not at his art studio in TriBeCa had them that one time, but in this case, imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery. You’ll only end up bitten, itchy, and alone, which is NOT the New-York-new-me look you’re going for), hosting a visit from fellow Creighton grad Fr. Paddy, exploring the Brooklyn Book Festival, visiting with my dad and Annie and Erica, seeing ANTHONY RAMOS AND JASMINE CEPHAS-JONES IN A COFFEE SHOP, and visiting my favorite spot in the city, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, right down the street from where I work. Thank you God and St. Ignatius. I am indebted to you.
It is in these moments that I must not disregard the fact that my entire life is founded in an undeniable amount of privilege and grace of God. To be able to give up a year and work for almost nothing is a gift. Few people have the luxury to spend their time volunteering without having to worry about the financial burden. I feel so incredibly grateful, and hope I can do everything in my power to work through the pillars of JVC to “dare to change” as the motto goes. What will this change consist of, I’m not quite sure yet, but I’m excited as anything to greet them as they come.
C.W.
Write | Wright 
I adore you!! You make me so stinkin’ proud!!
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