Meredith Clark Meth '01

 

What Was It Like Moving Across Country?

She planned a wedding, quit her job, got married, moved – this time all the way from Los Angeles to New York City – set up housekeeping in Manhattan, looked for another job and landed at the world-renowned Lincoln Center. Meanwhile her husband is working on his medical residency.

It’s safe to say that 2004 was full of big changes for Meredith Clark Meth ’01.

But her year wasn’t much different from the years many UCLA alumni experience, Meredith notes. One goes where life leads, and Bruins are lucky enough to be a bit better prepared for whatever might come next.

Q: What was it like moving across country?
The move to Manhattan was pretty stressful, mostly because everything happened so fast - we got married, Marc M.D. ’04 graduated and we were in the car one week later. A total whirlwind.

We signed up to live in an apartment building owned by the hospital and arrived there sight unseen. We’d spent the night in Hershey, Penn., then drove into Manhattan. We were really quiet for the whole drive. But we ended up with a remarkably large apartment by Manhattan standards so we got lucky.

Settling in was not very difficult. We had about a week before Marc’s program started, so there were some long and crazy days trying to navigate our car around the city and various New Jersey towns to get the necessary things to get our apartment set up. I think the adjustment would have been a lot harder if I would have been unemployed for a time, with Marc working crazy hours. Luckily I found a job pretty quickly.

Q: How is New York City different?

Being California born and raised, I wasn't sure what to expect, and although things are completely different, it's a good different. Except for the transit strike a few months back, which left me walking an hour to and from work for a few days in the cold, I like not having a car and taking public transportation. I love just settling down with a good book and zoning out on my commute.

One surprise is how I can do so many errands without ever having to leave the apartment. I can be so lazy! Every single restaurant delivers, even at 11 pm on a Sunday night – I never cook. I call the dry cleaners and they come pick up our clothes and drop them off. You can even have your laundry sent out and washed for you, but I draw the line at that one.

My favorite part of living here is all the art and culture. I've made it to a lot of the museums, and also, being fortunate enough to work at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., I've been treated to some fantastic performances for free! I haven't seen much on Broadway since it's so expensive, but the few shows I've seen were great. Summertime is the best time to be here because there are all these free shows in Central Park and everyone comes out with blankets and picnics to hang out.

The biggest surprise is how many houseguests we have had since we moved here. Everyone wants a free place to stay here since it's so expensive – we have company all the time. I guess our sofa bed was a good investment.

Shortly after we moved, Marc and I went to a party with some of his colleagues. At one point, someone looked at us and said, “You both look like you’re from California – you smile a lot!”

Q: Do you keep in touch with your college friends?
Most of my closest friends were people I met in college, and we stay in touch. I got together with my friends living in the city to go watch the UCLA-USC game with the Bruin Club of New York. It was definitely a disappointing game, but it was fun doing the Eight-clap! Marc and I also had the chance to go watch the UCLA basketball team play at Madison Square Garden during the NIT Tournament.

Q: So you’ve been in New York a little over a year and a half now. How are things going?
Great! I was so fortunate to land my first position at Lincoln Center, as a development associate managing donor relations for their corporate fund. I love working in the performing arts, and I really have enjoyed interacting with our donors. A little less than a year into my time here, there were some major changes in my department and I was promoted to assistant director. Now I am in charge of running our entire fundraising campaign, which was a huge increase in responsibility. I am now in charge of managing the person in my old position, which is a little strange, but I’m loving the challenge and have learned so much. Marc’s second year has also been a little less intense than his first year of residency. He spends the night at the hospital less and has had a few months where he’s had a normal work week. It’s been really nice to explore the city together. We recently found out our East Coast tour-of-duty will be extended by two years as Marc will do his fellowship in allergy/immunology at a hospital on Long Island, about 30 minutes from the city. We’ve built a nice little community for ourselves here, and I think are quite relieved to not have to start over some place else. But we are also looking forward to returning to California in July of 2009.

Finally, in the spirit of your local celebrity David Letterman, give us some lists.

What I miss about California (in no particular order)
1. The weather
2. Immediate family in the same time zone
3. The scenery – I miss palm tree lined streets, the beautiful ocean and the rolling hills of the wine country.
4. Mexican food, fresh produce, Trader Joes and good frozen yogurt

Pros of living in NYC
1. Having a chance to really get to know one of the world's most exciting cities
2. Unparalleled performing arts
3. Public transportation
4. Central Park
5. Getting to explore more of the East Coast because I'm based here
6. Experiencing the urban way of life, which is totally different from how most of the country lives
7. The food

Cons of living in NYC
1. Shockingly expensive
2. The weather
3. Being so far away from our family
4. The lack of space in stores, apartments etc.