Kimie Bunya - College Class 2008

After I got back home from Buenos Aires, I did some hard-core job hunting. But it was a little hard since I would only be around for about 7 or 8 weeks before heading back up to Philly so I figured the restaurant industry was probably my best bet. I started working at this European-style bar and coffee house near my house. I worked there a few summers ago as a hostess but decided to try serving to try to make a little more cash. This quite possibly was a big mistake. First of all, we're open from 10AM until 3AM every night, which makes for abnormally long shifts. This also makes us a hot spot for the post-clubbing crowd and things can get pretty crazy. We also happen to have the most extensive drink menu in Atlanta which the servers have to know pretty well. So basically it's a lot of hard work for not a ton of money. But it's not so terrible because the people I work with are pretty cool. Everyone helps everyone out, there's a laid-back atmosphere and we all kind of joke around together. It's a little disconcerting doing this while I'm hearing about all my friends working in DC, NY or Philly at career-related internships, but at the same time, it's kind of refreshing to do something unrelated to my field of study for once. Plus, it's been cool meeting people who are so interesting and different from the people I'm used to hanging out with. I'm not necessarily just a Penn student majoring in IR and Spanish, in fact, most people have never even heard of Penn. Unfortunately, it's also the type of job that puts a damper on my social life since I work a lot of nights and weekends, but I thoroughly enjoy my days off. I usually go out with my sister or other friends and have discovered that Atlanta has a pretty fun nightlife too!