Trusting the Process When Nothing Feels Certain

This week Alyssa and Nadia are joined by Lucy Shepherd, a close friend of Nadia's from their Dialogue of Civilizations program in Spain, to talk about growing up in different countries, finding a career path, and figuring out what comes next after graduation.

Lucy shares how she spent her childhood moving fromMaryland to Ecuador, then Peru and eventually seven years in Johannesburg, before landing in Boston for college. Along the way, that constant relocation shaped how she thinks about identity, belonging, and what it even means to call somewhere home.

At Northeastern, Lucy started out undeclared, trying on economics, environmental science, and communications before finding her way to English and discovering she loved editing. She talks about what drew her to the field, how living abroad shaped her interest in stories that don't usually get told, and why she sees an editor's job as protecting a writer's voice rather than smoothing it away.

The conversation feels timely for Nadia, who is heading into her own post grad questions soon. They talk about the job search, staying open instead of locking into one plan, and the side gigs and small steps that can carry someone through an uncertain stretch.

They also get into what it's like not really having one fixed home base anymore, since her parents are in Istanbul now and her sister is out in California. And they talk about the places that have actually stuck with her, Peru especially.

It's a grounded conversation about identity, ambition, and learning to trust that things will come together even when the path isn't clear yet.

Takeaways

• Growing up abroad complicated Lucy's sense of what it means to be American, and honestly, it's still not fully resolved
• Being undeclared wasn't a setback, it gave her the room to actually find the right path
• A good editor protects a writer's voice instead of replacing it
• Living in so many different countries shaped her interest in stories that usually don't get told
• Post-grad uncertainty gets a lot easier to sit with when you stay open instead of forcing a decision
• Once her family scattered across different countries, home stopped being one fixed place
• Peru is so much more than Machu Picchu
• Careers tend to start with curiosity, not certainty

Chapters

• 0:11 – 1:43 Meet Lucy and how she and Nadia met on their Dialogue of Civilizations trip in Spain
• 1:43 – 5:51 Lucy's childhood in Maryland, Ecuador, Peru and seven years in Johannesburg
• 5:51 – 8:54 Why Northeastern, choosing Boston over Santa Cruz and a co-op program she didn't even understand yet
• 8:54 – 11:46 Does Lucy feel American? Identity and belonging after growing up outside the US
• 11:46 – 16:00 From undeclared to English major, how Lucy found editing
• 16:00 – 19:21 What an editor actually does and why that matters in the age of AI
• 19:21 – 21:03 Amplifying voices that don't get heard, AAPI Month and using privilege well
• 21:03 – 24:22 Life after graduation, job hunting, side gigs and staying open
• 24:22 – 27:21 Where even is home now, parents in Istanbul, sister in Berkeley, lease ending in August
• 27:21 – 29:46 Lucy's favorite place she's lived, the case for Peru
• 29:46 – 30:50 Dream publications and wrapping up the interview

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