Ah the US graduate visa! A time of frivolous fun - not a care in the world! Yeah right!    

David Atkinson, a cocky, 22-year old from Wexford goes to New York expecting the roads to be paved with gold and opportunity on every corner. But the roads are paved over and the opportunities are few. So, over the last two years, David has recorded the journey of his life.

It's sink or swim as David tries to navigate the tumultuous work of Trump, trains and training visas.  And the clock is ticking - he has 90 days to get an internship or be on the next flight home. Can he do it?

In May 2016, David Atkinson was in Wexford and very fed up. Life had been a bit of a whirlwind: he had graduated from college, worked on TV, helped run a comedy club but now things were grinding to a halt. The work wasn't coming in and he reckoned his career needed a jump start.  So, he decided to get out - out of Wexford, and out of Ireland. 

He landed on the idea of a Graduate Visa to go and work in the US.  He got the savings together, was approved by the US Embassy and headed off to New York.  "The Graduate Visa should be called the Countdown Visa", says David, "because as soon as the wheels of your suitcase hit US soil, the clock starts ticking.  You have 90 days to get a one-year paid internship in a US company or you have to leave the country".  Easier said than done. 

In the US, most internships are given to college students, not graduates.  They're unpaid and the only last a couple of months - not a year.  David went at the job search with gusto - crummy jobs fairs, hundreds of emails and phone calls.  He did get offered one job where the guy offered to pay David in massages.  "I didn't get back to him", said David.  David had another difficulty.  "The US Graduate Visa only allows you to work in your own field - that is, in the area you have studied.  Mine was TV - not a whole lot of well-paid jobs for interns in TV.   I have a friend who studied American Culture and Society.  He was able to make lots of money working in bars because, as we know,  bars are intrinsic to American culture and society!" 

Eventually, David got a break.  The Westport-based online TV station, Irish.tv, had opened an office in New York.  He sent them an audition tape and was offered work as a presenter.  Not only that, they agreed to sign his papers which would allow him to stay in the US.  Then, the next call David got from Irish.tv was to tell him that the station was closing down and his job was gone.  It was getting close to Christmas.  David's savings were running low; his visa was about to expire. It looked like his great American adventure was about to end in a miserable flight back home. Or would it?

Documentary on One - RTÉ Documentaries

New York - 1, David - 0

The 'Documentary on One' unit is currently one of the most successful radio doc unit in the world - having collected over 260 national and international awards since 2008. Their website contains over 1,700 documentaries - the largest free online radio documentary archive anywhere in the world - stretching as far back as 1954. 'Documentary on One' productions are radio stories about real life in Ireland and beyond.

New York - 1, David - 0

Documentary On One, RTÉ