After graduating from Northeastern University in Boston in 2025, Ginny Williams, 23, relocated from her hometown of Kailua, Hawaii, to New York City with support from her aunt, Jeanette Williams. Despite having previously moved more than 5,000 miles for college, Williams found the transition to New York, just over 200 miles away, more daunting due to the city’s high cost of living and lack of established connections.

Williams secured a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor of her aunt’s family home in Astoria, Queens, where her aunt’s family occupies the second floor and renters live on the third. The apartment came with a monthly rent of $800 and did not require a security deposit, lease agreement, or income verification, arrangements that Williams said would have been otherwise out of reach for her.

The decision to move was motivated by Williams’s desire to pursue a career in graphic design and art, despite initially lacking a full-time job in New York. After college, she spent several months applying for full-time positions, eventually shifting her focus to freelance opportunities. She describes herself primarily as an artist and began documenting her creative process on social media, recognizing the importance of content creation in building an audience.

To manage expenses, Williams spent much of her free time in public parks across the city, particularly enjoying Sheep Meadow in Central Park and Bryant Park in Midtown. She worked on her paintings by sketching scenes and people around her and revived a long-term personal project: re-creating photographs taken during her childhood with an old Fisher-Price camera as paintings. Williams aims to balance producing marketable artwork with personally meaningful subjects.

Williams credits her aunt’s generosity as crucial to her ability to settle in the city. “My aunt’s family, they’re all very supportive,” she said, adding that without their help, the move would likely have been impossible. Jeanette Williams spoke warmly about supporting her niece, praising her talent and ambition.

By late June 2026, with her savings dwindling and an internal six-month deadline approaching, Williams secured a full-time graphic design position with a public relations firm working on fall political campaigns. Though new to this type of work, she expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity and plans to continue developing both her professional career and artistic practice in New York.

Williams's journey highlights the challenges faced by many young artists and recent graduates striving to live and work in high-cost urban environments, emphasizing the role of family support and personal determination in navigating these obstacles.