Just so we are all clear about Sophia - she moved to NYC right after high school, and her mother and I remained in San Antonio, over 1,600 miles away. She went to St John’s for 1 semester, Fall 2020, and withdrew, saying COVID-era college education wasn’t worth the full price they were charging.
Her plan was to find a job, find an apartment, and live in NYC long enough to become an in-state resident so she qualifies for cheaper tuition. She found a job paying $55k/year, she found an apartment in Harlem, and she has been fully independent since the age of 18.
Sophia is now a NY state resident, starting the Bureau of Manhattan Comm College for her 101’s, with her transferring to the Fashion Institute of Technology in Fall 2023 for her marketing major/photography minor classes. (She has already arranged it with both institutions that she only takes BMCC classes which transfer over.)
About a year and a half ago I told her that I effectively withdrew from the job of ‘telling Sophia what to do’ long before, and that she’s doing so well that I’m not even in the “give unsolicited advice” field any more with her.
Anyway, it’s not like Sophia can’t adult, quite the contrary. She is very independent, extremely competent, sells and presents herself well, saves her $ like a mf, and lives her life as she plans it. It’s not every child you would blithely say ‘yeah, that support yourself living in NYC @ the age of 18 idea is totally doable’… but with Sophia, yeah.
You would say that.