Meet the contributors

Name: Lauren Boyer
Age: 23
Hometown: Hershey, Pa.
Current city: York
Job title: Business reporter
Alma mater: Penn State, class of 2009
20-something confession: I don’t live paycheck to paycheck, but sometimes I act like it. I’m a firm believer that everything you need in life can and should be purchased at the dollar store.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: I graduated early and returned home to live with my parents and work full time at a reporting fellowship in Harrisburg. Nothing prepared me for that return to adult supervision.
Proudest adult moment: Setting up my 401K at the York Daily Record. I gave into my dad’s coaxing, and decided to contribute 10 percent of my income. I hardly notice it. Plus, I’ll be living large when I’m 60.
Current goal: Buy a house before I’m 25. And then adopt a rottweiler.

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Name: Kim Curran
Age: 24
Hometown: Emlenton, Pa.
Current city: Dillsburg
Job title: Editorial Assistant
Alma mater: Clarion University of Pennsylvania, class of 2010
20-something confession: I absolutely hate to iron! Every time I try it, one wrinkle becomes two, two becomes three, three to four. I have been known to rewash clothes just to avoid the futile task of ironing.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Leaving my great college friends was the hardest thing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love the family that I have in the area but nothing takes the place of friends.
Proudest adult moment: I changed the brake pads on my car … well my dad helped a little, maybe a lot. OK, fine, I assisted my dad in putting new brake pads on my car.
Current goal: Travel to Europe

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Name: Sarah Chain
Age: 24
Hometown: Ridgefield, Conn.
Current city: York
Job title: Multiplatform features copy editor, books editor
Alma mater: James Madison University, class of 2010
20-something confession: It is a miracle I haven’t killed myself in the kitchen. A few months ago I turned on the wrong burner on my stove. When the burner I wanted wasn’t getting hot, I slammed down my hand on the other burners to see if any of them were working. Surprise, one was — I had a bandaged hand for a month.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Not splitting costs with roommates. In college I cringed at a $40 electric bill in the winter. In my first apartment out of college, I prayed for one that came in under $200.
Proudest adult moment: Hosting my family’s Thanksgiving dinner in my 4-by-4-foot kitchen. We ran out of proper serving spoons and stuck an ice-cream scoop in the mashed potatoes, but I still count it as a success.
Current goal: To live in one apartment for more than 12 months (I’ve moved six times in five years) and finally put down roots somewhere.

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Name: Chris Dunn
Age: 24
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Current city: York Township
Job title: Multiplatform photojournalist (I think…)
Alma mater: Missouri, class of 2010
20-something confession: I never owned furniture until the week I got my job (well, besides my mattress set). Having moved a total of eight times since May 2010, I always made sure that I never acquired more belongings than could fit into my car trunk. Until now.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: The prospect of living more than 1,000 miles from family has finally set in. When I was in college, I went back home for Thanksgiving week and maybe two weeks over winter break. Now that I’m living at a more “permanent” distance, I’m actually very good about calling home once a week and regularly talking to my mom on iChat.
Proudest adult moment: Paying the full monthly amounts on my student loans. Also, signing the lease for my own, big-girl apartment for December.
Current goal: Pay off my student loans. They are the single most depressing thing in my life right now.

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Name: Bethany Fehlinger
Age: 25
Hometown: Wilkes-Barre
Current city: Dallastown
Job title: Multiplatform news copy editor
Alma mater: Penn State class of 2008
20-something confession: My parents still pay my cell phone and car bills, despite my protests. Though they warn me that one day soon it will be my responsibility.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: I feel like I have less time to get things done than before, when I was working two jobs and had a 15-credit workload.
Proudest adult moment: Moving myself two times in three years; figuring out car troubles on my own.
Current goal: Deciding the next move in my romantic relationship; make York more vegan-friendly

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Name: Kate Harmon
Age: 27
Hometown: Birmingham, Ala., Winter Haven, Fla.
Current city: Hanover
Job title: Night metro editor
Alma mater: University of Richmond
20-something confession: I cannot for the life of me, properly make an omelet. It just goops all over the place. And everytime I cook, my cat hides under a bed. Related note: I’m a crazy cat lady. I’m also terrified of whipped cream and food with its head still on and make others remove them.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Paying for my own medical bills and dealing with things like insurance and 401Ks.
Proudest adult moment: I don’t consider myself an adult, but I’d have to say having my dad thank me for everything I do in the fight against Parkinson’s disease.
Current goal: Travel and volunteer more. Plus keep in better touch with friends.

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Name: Dan Herman
Age: 25
Hometown: Arlington, Wash.
Current city: York
Job title: Assistant News Editor
Alma mater: Washington State University, class of 2009
20-something confession: I lived on the “college student diet” of pizza, hot dogs and popcorn (anything you can make in a minute and a half with a microwave) until last year.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Remembering to pay all the various bills one has to pay — no more just paying one big sum to one place.
Proudest adult moment: Responsibly selling my old car and buying a new one before the old one literally fell apart. A tiny bit of forward-thinking!
Current goal: Pay off my student loans before I die.

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Name: Ashley May
Age: 21
Hometown: New Freedom
Current city: New Freedom
Job title: Multiplatform copy editor
Alma mater: Ithaca College, class of 2012
20-something confession: When I have a little money in the bank, I like to splurge on perfume. Right now, I really like Oh, Lola! by Marc Jacobs.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: I moved back in with my parents after an early college graduation. I love my parents, but I also love my independence.
Proudest adult moment: My proudest adult moment was going off all of my parents insurance plans, because I had my own.
Current goal: I want to afford to live in an apartment where the walls are full of original art, the porch is full of plants and my kitchen is full of local food.

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Name: Erin McCracken
Age: 27
Hometown: Norristown, Pa.
Current city: York
Alma mater: Penn State ’07
Job title: Entertainment reporter
20-something confession: I still don’t own a kitchen table. I have a counter and two bar stools, but I usually end up with a crumb-covered couch.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Having to work on Christmas Eve
Proudest adult moment: Driving to Manhattan by myself on a whim to visit a friend
Current goal: To be a good aunt. My sister is going to have a baby!

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Name: Stephanie Reighart
Age: 25
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Current city: York
Job Title: Multiplatform journalist on the night news and digital desk
Alma Mater: Ohio State ’07, Dartmouth ’11
20-something confession: I still eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch at least once a week.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Becoming friends with my parents. I may not need them financially, but spending time with them is so valuable to me.
Proudest adult moment: Buying a house.
Current goal: Pay off student loans and finish major home remodeling projects.

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Name: Dan Rorabaugh
Age: 23
Hometown: Mount Joy, Lancaster County
Current city: Mechanicsburg
Job title: Multiplatform journalist on night news copy desk
Alma major: The Pennsylvania State University, Class of 2010
20-something confession: While most people spend their spare time balancing budgets, keeping in shape or keeping their homes in respectable living condition, I spend it watching nostalgic shows and movies online and horsing around with my two sonic screwdrivers.
Biggest adjustment after graduating from college: Shifting from a regular day schedule to working nights
Proudest adult moment: Making successful, exciting trips for myself and my friends when my weekends are Tuesday and Wednesday
Current goal: Improve as a journalist and page designer, write the Silent Hill 4 mini-series and get the Phillies another World Series

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Name: Natalie Schwind
Age: 21
Hometown: Glen Rock
Current city: York
Job title: Editorial Assistant
Alma mater: Shippensburg University class of 2012
20-something confession: I still love watching the occasional show on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Moving back home and realizing it isn’t just for a summer.
Proudest adult moment: Finding a job in my field a month after graduating college.
Current goal: To land a full-time job and buy my own car and apartment.

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Name: April Trotter
Age: 26
Hometown: Tunkhannock, Pa.
Current city: New Cumberland
Job title: Multiplatform features copy editor
Alma mater: Penn State, class of 2007, and (fingers crossed) Shippensburg University, class of 2012
20-something confession: Once I left the stove on in my apartment all day while at work because I thought the “low” setting would substitute for a crock pot the first time I made chili
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Not having my mom’s sweet $10-copay-for-any-medical-service insurance (note: I’ve never needed stitches or an MRI until I was on my own awful plan)
Proudest adult moment: Purchasing a car without my dad’s help
Current goal: To live in near-perfect harmony with boyfriend so neither of us has to go through the hassle of packing boxes/changing addresses/plotting the other’s demise.

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Name: Brittany Wilson
Age: 25
Hometown: Hamilton Square, N.J.
Current city: Mechanicsburg
Job title: Hyperlocal and digital copy editor
Alma mater: Penn State, Class of 2009
20-something confession: I share the same cellphone plan with my grandma that I’ve been on since high school. She pays, I teach her how to use her phone. It’s pretty win-win.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Cooking actual meals. My mom had a hot meal on the table every night growing up and I lived on campus and took advantage of the meal plan for four years of college. When I moved out into the real world the summer after graduation, I realized home-cooked meals would no longer materialize on the kitchen table at 6:30 p.m. every evening. For the past two years, I’ve been trying to improve my culinary skills.
Proudest adult moment: Adopting and taking care of my beagle, Emma.
Current goal: Paying off my many student loans within the next five years. One down, four  to go! And adopting another dog. (I might end up becoming the crazy dog lady)

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Name: Leigh Zaleski
Age: 26
Hometown: Scranton
Current city: York
Job title: Features reporter
Alma mater: Temple University, class of 2008
20-something confession: For most of my 20s, throughout college and the first few years of my career, I cried every time I visited my family and had to leave.
Biggest adjustment after graduating college: Living on my own — away from family and friends — for the sake of my career, something I always said I’d do, but didn’t realize how hard it would be.
Proudest adult moment: Sticking out loneliness and becoming a happy, functioning member of society.