As HuffPost College's Frugal Intern, I've pledged to live on $100 a week. That does not cover the entire costs of sublet rentals, utilities, cell phone bills, Wi-Fi, health care coverage, daily travel fees, food and debt repayment. Not even close. For young careerists and interns already in the city, rent and utilities (electricity, Wi-Fi, cable, water, heat, etc.) as well as other monthly expenses (cell phone bills, student loan repayments, health care insurance) are expenses that I consider to be "givens." They often cannot be altered easily from week to week and therefore I will address them only occasionally, if at all.

I'm blogging for students and young adults who are experiencing (often for the first time) the perks and the pains of living on their own in this city of eight million people. I want to focus upon the weekly costs that can fluctuate for this crowd of young'uns, which include food (both groceries and dining out), transportation, entertainment, gym fees and other discretionary spending categories. These are the categories that form the bread and butter of most students' and interns' daily expenditures and remain the most malleable aspects of a young person's overall budget in the city.

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Within every human being exists a propensity for greatness. The gifts may vary, and the greatness may live out in a vast array of alternatives -- say from carpentry to rocket science --but the gift that gives one true self-respect and lifts the spirit from "same old, same old" resides within. It is our ability to do our very best with our talents in every thing we do. This potential resides within each one of us -- but if so, then why is it so often denied?

Every individual essentially has a self-representation that is rehearsed and eventually actualized. The process begins by fantasizing at a very early age. We fantasize a script, perhaps one of those from some Hollywood production. We begin rehearsing it, and we either abandon it to take up a new one or practice it until we role-play that script as who we are. Practicing the script sooner or later automates the behavior. Our imprinting environment plays a significant role in the alternative scripts available to us. If the parents are uncaring and abusive, so are the children, and so forth. If warmth and friendliness lead to embarrassment, then coldness and aloofness compensate. If honesty gets us into trouble, then deception becomes a defense strategy, and so forth.

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In 2009, I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo for the first time and I remember feeling utterly overwhelmed. It was a trip that really opened my eyes or, should I say, slapped me in the face with the realities of the country. I had heard so much about the violence, particularly against women, but nothing had prepared me. I listened to stories from women and girls about extreme horrors inflicted on them. I learned how families and villages have been torn apart through a plague of terror using sexual violence as a tool of destruction. It was a kind of devastation that I had never seen before.

I left the country questioning what we could do, when the organization V-Day offered a ray of hope with the City of Joy. The City of Joy is a place where survivors of sexual violence can go to heal physically and emotionally, and gain skills and leadership training through programming. The knowledge they gain here will allow them to return to their homes with tools to help rebuild their lives. The concept seemed innovative and I was particularly drawn to the fact that it was thought up completely by the women of the DRC themselves. Who better to decide how to address their real needs?

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When she enters Street, the restaurant she owns with Kajsa Alger, Susan Feniger immediately greets an employee with a smile and a hug. Later, she mentions that she has already been to Border Grill Santa Monica, the restaurant she owns with long-time business partner Mary Sue Milliken, and has to head to a meeting at Border Grill Downtown after lunch. But what's more impressive than Feniger's ability to bounce around LA in a single day while still engaging guests and offering encouragement to her staff, is her long list of accomplishments.

Feniger is a chef, restaurateur, Top Chef Masters contestant, author of multiple cookbooks and a TV and radio personality. Her achievements have helped solidify Los Angeles as a culinary capital as much as they have helped her leave her own mark on the city over the last thirty years. If there's anything you can learn from Susan Fenigar about how to make it in LA, it's that success comes from drive, passion and a desire to keep exploring what lies ahead. Put most simply in Feniger's own words, "life's too short to not do what you love and be passionate about it."

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