Time to Apply to Grad School
So you’re a few hundred grand in debt and fresh-faced in the big city — or, if you’re a Columbia grad, just happy to get out of Morningside Heights — with a B.A. in Comp Lit and, I don’t know, hopes and dreams. Even if your semesters reading Baudrillard don’t have any practical application, you figure that your degree must at least carry some weight, right? Right?
Erroneous, my friends.
Doree Shafrir’s Observer article, “Ivy League Slaves of New York,” is pretty self-explanatory by its subtitle: “America’s best and brightest are unpacking their gilded diplomas and getting to work as assistants in New York’s media dens, pinching themselves at their good fortune. Suckers!”
It appears that many graduates are coming to New York with visions of a swift ascent in a shiny media universe, but are quickly shot down. In fact, a certain brand of diploma might actually work against you:
Ms. Marcus explained that her former place of employment had a policy about not hiring anyone who had gone to an Ivy League school, because ‘they didn’t want people whom they could perceive as a threat.’ (The evidence bears this out somewhat: Ivy League grads do seem partial to cashing in via book deals; Lauren Weisberger, the author of The Devil Wears Prada, graduated from Cornell, and [Bridie] Clark is a Harvard alumna…)”
Well, if your Ivy League credentials are holding you back, you know our favorite fallback option: nepotism! Kidding(ish).
The boss-assistant relationship is truly a special brand of strange. As one former assistant describes it,
My first boss told me she loved me, which was incongruous with the way she treated me—I was both her best friend and slave.”
This is a subject particularly close to my heart, as I recently left an assistant position. The most frequent response I got when I mentioned my job was, “Oh, like in The Devil Wears Prada?” Carrie Bradshaw apparently has a label-whoring, romantic, BBF assistant in the Sex and the City movie, because people recently started saying, “Oh, like in Sex and the City!” instead.
Eh, maybe. Someday I’ll be ready to talk about it. Part of what makes these positions worthwhile is the sheer amount of material that those who push through get out of the experience, both for the self-satisfaction of martyrdom and the thought that perhaps I, too, will someday be lucky enough to publish “assistant lit.”
And praise Shiva for blogs like Save the Assistants, where allies in the trenches can commiserate.
Have you been an assistant? Share the pain and tell us your stories.
Black Women: Wise Best Friends To White Women Everywhere [Jezebel]
Ivy League Slaves of New York [Observer]
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June 29th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Nina, as a Columbia grad I too felt the desire to leave Morningside Heights as quickly as possible (New York actually as a whole) but have recently returned. You might be surprised someday to find it’s actually a pleasant neighborhood with a great cafe, many parks, and one of the best bookstores in the city (yes, I think Lab./BookCulture is one of the best stores in the city..better than St. Marks and others for certain). I like the fact that the area has a lower hipster ratio than Brooklyn and doesn’t have that same ‘you’re going to get shot or stabbed’ feel as Williamsburg. Also, fewer nuts than the LES. For those of us who appreciate a quiet life with books, a dog, and a place to read, and who don’t need alcohol and parties on a nightly basis, it’s a lovely place.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Yea. Agreed. Another Columbia alum who wanted to get out of the city, but now realized why he loved it in the first place. Driving a car is nice though, but the restaurants, stores, and people of New York can’t be beat.
When I have enough money to pay for rent, and a monthly parking spot, I’ll be back. Either that, or I’ll just live near to a grocery store, so that I don’t have to lug groceries all the time.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
You should try making your grocery outings once every two or three weeks and stock up and then use Fairway’s delivery service. Yeah, it feels decadent the first time or two, but then you remember lugging a tonne of groceries for blocks. Six bucks isn’t too bad. I totally agree with you Tully, except for the people sometimes. New Yorkers are a little pretentious and self-absorbed a lot of the time.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I probably don’t notice that New Yorkers are douchebags, because I too, am a douchebag.
But, six dollars for delivery? That’s it? Are you for reals? I am an idiot. That, ZipCar, and 311, basically solve every complaint I’ve had about New York.