The Experiment in Irresponsibility

In high school, Leslie Jamison worked in an architect’s office, at Gap, and at Jamba Juice. Later, she pursued higher education at Harvard and other elite institutions, but didn’t leave the service sector entirely, holding jobs as an innkeeper and a baker, among others. She’s now the director of the nonfiction concentration in the writing program at Columbia University School of the Arts, and an author; her memoir The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath, about her experiences with alcoholism and recovery, was published in April.

Jamison has not only had to navigate spaces where experience matters most, but also those where a premium is placed on academic pedigree and critical acclaim. Recently, I spoke with her about navigating those different worlds, drinking on the job, and whether she’d mentor her younger self.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Lolade Fadulu: Your first real job was as an office assistant for an architect. What year of high school was this?

Leslie Jamison: He was a family friend, and I was 14, in 10th grade. My parents wanted me to get a job, so I worked for him in part because it was legally possible.

Why did