A Lesson for College, CIA, and Life [Image](https://) Greetings Everyday Spy, Picture this- Iâm 17 years old standing in a New York City McDonaldsâs watching a boy Iâd flown hundreds of miles to see walk away⦠after hanging out with me for 7 mins of a 10 day trip Iâd planned. Just a Florida girl, alone, in the Big Apple learning some very important lessons. Howâd I get here? Boy meets girl via AOL Chat Room. Girl sets up a cute ~*AwAy MeSsAge*~ Boy and girl are now a thing. <333 An internet love story us 90s kids know all about. That dial up screech was the sound of freedom and progress, an expansion of the world (and the dating pool.) Big city boy travels to Florida that summer with his family and when he returned home distance wasnât a problem for young love with access to AIM. Everything seemed sweet and dreamy as new relationships often are. I realize now it wasnât perfect timing, it was the universe's way of setting me up for an important life lesson. My first semester of college began with a cute boy in tow. A travel agency just happened to be on my way to class. Now, money wasnât something I had enough of to even think about buying a plane ticket. I had a scholarship and my momâs hard earned wages getting me through college. 100% didnât matter - I bought a ticket on my own imaginary dime. Next stop, New York City. I quickly realized that $120 flight might be okay on my wallet, but did you know you have to pay for hotel and food every single night when youâre away? That was a cost not on my teenage radar. (Can we just take a moment for the late 90s airfare? I mean, thatâs a thing of beauty.) Just in case you didnât know, New York was and is expensive. I stayed in a hotel with a tiny, sparsely furnished room and a shared bathroom. The light in the bathroom didnât work. The heat in the hotel room didnât work. The cell phone of the boy Iâd flown myself up to see, apparently, didnât work. I was miserable, but itâd all be worth it to see my guy... right? Wrong. A couple days after my arrival- yup, you read that right- he had me meet him at a McDonaldâs. He showed up with a friend. He introduced us. We made small talk. Then they had to go. I believe the saying now is, âghosted.â Then it was a simple âwhat the fuck?â I still think this phrase sums up everything nicely. I felt like Iâd just helped him win a bet with his friend. How could my college freshman, mature and oh so wise, decision making skills have done me so wrong? Luckily, a friend of mine happened to be visiting her family in Queens and she invited me to go see the ball drop. Instead of wallowing in a sea of misery, I braved the cold again to be with people who actually wanted to see me. Goodbye icebox hotel and hello nice, warm apartment. We had an adventure winding our way through NYC to stand among hundreds of people waiting to watch the New Year begin. It was perfect. So incredibly cold, but perfect. The intelligence gathered by the CIA is never convenient. It is a product of effort. Something happening out of convenience is not the same as something happening because effort was made. Convenience is simple and often unfulfilling, itâs easy. Effort is meaningful. My boy spending time with me in Florida was pure convenience. Had I understood the value of effort, maybe I would have never spent those cold nights alone in a not-quite-as-good-as-a-hostel hotel. But then again, I would have never had the chance to put effort into connecting with my friend, which led to the amazing memory of seeing the ball drop in Time Square. Godspeed, #EverydaySpy P.S. - P.S. A lot of people are failing their new yearâs resolutions because they fell for 3 big lies no one's told you about. Get the truth about them and how you can take back 2024 by [clicking here](. Follow @EverydaySpy on Social Media! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Andrew Bustamante, Founder of EverydaySpy.com, is a former covert CIA Intelligence officer, decorated US Air Force Combat Veteran, and respected Fortune 500 senior advisor. Learn more from Andrew on his Podcast (The Everyday Espionage Podcast) and by following @EverydaySpy on your favorite social media platform. This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe](
EverydaySpy, 411 Walnut St. #20309, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043