Finance in the Midwest

Distinguished Primates,

New to WSO as I am just kickstarting my career in finance so I'll take a leap of faith, as I did with accepting this job, and vent here. For context, I'm originally from the east coast and stayed there for school. How I got to where I currently am is as bizarre as Denis Rodman & North Korea but who am I to judge? To be totally blunt, I currently work in a "tier 4" city in the Midwest...along the lines of Cleveland. Finance isn't prominent and the lifestyle/culture is a total 360 that of other major finance hubs (NYC, BOS, DC, etc). I don't necessarily have doubts but I am already thinking about my plan to lateral back to the east coast. Still, I appreciate the rare opportunity to work in PE straight out of college.

The choice to accept the job offer was not arbitrary as it was a great opportunity to work at a small fund (less than 10 people) and gain real-world experience right out of the gate. For example, I travel to management meetings across the country, work with our investors in our current fund, participate in portfolio calls, am helping to raise the next fund and work on all parts of the deal. The firm is doing well, I've learned a ton, and the culture is great but something just doesn't feel right. I'm willing to grin and bear it for 2 years and leverage this position sometime in the future. 

Just wanted to share my thoughts.