I was laid off by GlobalLogic on May 18th, marking the end of my first real job after grad school. I spent my days scoring AI responses, and honestly, I realized that the traditional 40-hour work week just isn't for me. I took this remote job out of necessity, as I was facing eviction just a month prior. Things took a turn when our workload dwindled, and we found ourselves filling out forms every 15 minutes to report that we had no tasks. There was a lot of shady behavior from management, with sudden changes to guidelines and quality scores that were never clearly communicated. It felt like a ticking time bomb, and I had a gut feeling that my layoff was imminent. Sure enough, the HR guy called me at 8 AM to inform me that the previous day was my last. I didn't cry immediately; it felt surreal, but later that day, after indulging in some comfort food from Doordash and talking to my mom, the reality hit me hard. It stung that they delivered the news right after I woke up, and even worse, I was let go on a Tuesday, just shy of completing my second week for a full paycheck. I'm feeling mixed emotions about it all. On one hand, I'm relieved to escape the early mornings and have more time for meals and job searching. On the other hand, I miss the steady paycheck and my coworkers, who were genuinely nice people. Thankfully, my cohort agreed to connect on LinkedIn once layoffs began, so I won't lose touch completely. With my apartment lease ending on July 31st, I'm torn between moving back in with my family, who live two hours away, and facing the uncertainty of my next steps. I miss my mom's cooking and my grandma, who has always been like a second mother to me. I'm also contemplating applying for food stamps again, though I know Texas isn't the most supportive state for that kind of help. I hesitated to share my layoff experience because it's still a lot to process, and I didn't want to face any judgment about my degree or career path. I'm currently waiting to hear back from the unemployment office, as they haven't received any response from my former employer yet.