Illustration by Catherine Cao
For several F News staff members, summer means picking up another job or two to fund our desperate quest for survival. Here’s how some F staff members are making ends meet, in an extremely on-brand fashion.
Grace Wells, Assistant Managing Editor
In a very on brand fashion (ha, fashion, literally), I’m working as an intern at Anthropologie, selling clothes on Depop, and attempting to break into the world of ghostwriting dating profiles. This combination of jobs probably harkens back to some weird subconscious connection to “Sex and the City” or some other “fashion girl” nonsense. My cat judges me hard for how predictable my professional life currently is, but I don’t really care what she thinks because she doesn’t even know how to type. In all honesty, I’m doing these jobs because I want to write for a fashion centric publication when I graduate. I really need the money; I love cooking, and fancy cheese is expensive. Also, let’s be real, I’m kind of a shopping addict.
Rosie Accola, Entertainment Editor
It only took me twenty-two years, but I’m finally getting paid to be gay and dramatic. In a side hustle that I’ve nicknamed “Gay Meg Ryan” — because at this point I’m living in a terrible/wonderful queer reappropriation of “You’ve Got Mail” — I picked up a summer gig ghostwriting queer romance novels. I work from outlines given to me by clients and let my dreamy dweeb nature take over. Can anyone give me the number of the company that produced the Midwest Michigan career quiz that I took in seventh grade that told me that I should either be a nun or a romance novelist? ‘Cause I feel like someone should get a commission out of this. TBH, I have infinite tenderness for my summer side hustle; I constantly complain about how I need to write a queer rom-com, and anything that helps me save up for my dream apartment here in Chicago while I scramble around for another job is a plus in my book.
Taylor Croteau, Advertising Manager
I am a grifter of the highest caliber. I always have a few side hustles going, but this summer I’ve really peaked. My main gig is walking dogs, but on the side, I’ve also started selling fake haunted dolls on eBay. It’s the best way to make use of my writing degree, honestly. I stop by a thrift store every couple of days — I’ve figured out this week that it should not be the same thrift store every time because the owner started looking at me weird like I was some crazy woman who collects porcelain dolls or something — and I pick out a porcelain doll or two for around five dollars. Then I take my porcelain treasures home and write a paragraph or two about how they’re haunted or possessed by demons and what they did to me and my fictional children. Then, I sell the dolls with their haunted bios on eBay. So far, I’ve made a $35 profit. This extra income helps me 1) buy more dolls and 2) live. I am also making some money on my paintings. So far, I have made $25 on a single drawing, “Sky Chicken” (2018).
Emily Mercedes Rich, F+ and Engagement Editor
In my life right now, it’s hard to distinguish what is a side hustle and what is a main hustle. So here’s a list of things I’m doing and some of them pay me and some of them might eventually pay me and some of them just don’t pay me, so I guess they aren’t a hustle, technically: I work as a teaching artist with Emerald City Theatre for summer camps; I work for this newsmagazine — I forget it’s name; I adopted a dog — I haven’t figured out how to make money off of this yet, but I think she can see ghosts, so there’s potential; I’m in rehearsals for a production of Caryl Churchill’s “The Skriker” — I will be playing Lily during Rhinofest 2019. You might be thinking, “Emily, the most on-brand thing about this is the hustle seems to be the sheer volume of things rather than any individual thing.” You are correct. I’ve also been playing a lot of “Legend of Zelda” and could potentially start a YouTube channel, if I could figure out how the YouTube people record their Wii play. Mine would mostly be me saying things like “mmmmmm upgrade!” and “I’m going to make this outfit…orange.”
Krutika Surve, Staff Writer
Okay, so I am all over the place this summer, and I don’t ever seem to have time for anything. However, I’m really enjoying everything I am doing. I am at the place where I just figured out what I like doing, and now I am doing it. Granted, I am not making any money on it, but I am still enjoying it. I am currently spending my summer interning at a creative agency called Lucid. Working for this company, I am learning all the business aspects of the film industry. Which is cutthroat. I mean, I always knew that managing a business is hard, but do you ever really know anything? I think not. I am also taking classes at Second City for improv and writing. And that is damn fun. Like I never knew I enjoyed writing so much before that class. I’m learning how to cater to an audience. My plan is — with what I am learning at SAIC, my internship, and Second City — eventually I’m going to fuse everything together to make and market my own work. But right now, I am just having fun. And, not to get all emo or anything, but it feels like it’s been a hot minute since I have made work that I enjoyed making. Literally, all year I feel like I have been in a slump, and I’ve been just stuck in hole and now that it’s warm, my creativity is popping out, like a mole.
