Life

Lessons from Nerd-dom

Christa Avampato

I was one of those nerdy kids whose favorite pastime was going to school. I liked to sit in the front of the class, raised my hand often, and asked so many questions that even my own mother grew sick of me. I went to a public school that didn’t particularly support the love of learning, though I was careful to choose an undergraduate school that did (relatively) and a graduate school that not only encouraged active participation, but required it!

After two years of graduate school that forced us to question numbers, regard “facts” with skepticism, and break rules, I have found that I am almost unable to hear statistics of any kind without jumping into analytics mode. This happened recently when a good friend of mine started a exasperated conversation with me after she read an article in Time Out New York that lead with “In February, National Geographic published a fairly stunning statistic: There are 185,000 more single women than single men in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut urban areas combined.” GASP!!! No!! How could this be??? No wonder I’m single.

I did some digging on line to find out the numbers behind the numbers. I couldn’t find comprehensive numbers of single men and women in the tri-state urban areas so let’s assume, absolute worst case, that the entire 185,000 singles gap between the genders live in New York City. Here’s how it breaks down:

2.9 million single men live in New York City. 1.75 million of which are “unattached”, meaning they are not in a serious dating relationship.

Since the population is fairly evenly split, let’s assume that there are also 2.9 million (plus the additional 185,000) single women in New York City. That’s roughly a total of 3.1 million single women.

Also, given that our population is evenly split, let’s assume that there are an equal number of men and women in New York City. The total population of NYC is just over 8 million. 4 million male, 4 million female.

Basically, we are getting ourselves all wound up because the 72.5% (2.9 million / 4.0 million) of males in New York are single and 77.5% (3.1 million / 4.0 million) of females are single. Are you kidding me? A worst-case 5% differential is a “stunning” statistic? On principle, I am boycotting Time Out New York until they get someone on their staff who can work a four function calculator and doesn’t abide by the principle of “let’s twist some numbers around to create sensationalism to sell more magazines!” Ridiculous.

Single ladies, get out there with your head held high and have some fun. Don’t get bogged down by people trying to tell you that you’ll be single forever if you stay in this city. Bologna. There are 1.75 million unattached men in New York for you to meet – you better get a move on! That’s an awful lot of dates.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Christa Avampato

The short of it: Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day. The long of it: My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events. While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series. A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist. My company: I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media: • I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference; • I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable; • I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me. Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.

1 thought on “Lessons from Nerd-dom”

I'd love to know what you think of this post! Please leave a reply and I'll get back to you in a jiffy! ~ CRA

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.