more applications

The job search continues. I'm going to start budgeting and I know it's going to be scary, so I'm putting it off. I know what I'm going to find out is that my two part-time jobs will not pay the bills. And so it goes.

As I already mentioned, I actually had the day off and I've spent it having lunch with some friends, doing laundry, and submitting job applications. If you can count productivity based on number of applications, I've been really productive--I should have 5 completed by later tonight and that's on top of the 4 I did on Wednesday and Thursday. Since I'm applying to very similar positions, I've been able to reuse the cover letter which is usually the most time-consuming part of the process.

So if you're in Montana, Kentucky, Virginia, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois or Tennessee, think some happy thoughts and I might be moving somewhere near you!

surprise!

At the end of yet another very stressful day at work, someone thought to mention that the office will be closed on Monday for the Fourth of July. Since the holiday is technically on Sunday and we are in the height of super-crazy-business, I hadn't even considered this and definitely never thought to ask. I just got a key to the office this week, so I would've shown up on Monday, let myself in, and worked (in peace) for a couple hours while wondering where everyone was...Glad I know better!

So, even  though I'm actually working at the retail job on Saturday and Sunday (yay for holiday pay!!), I actually get to kind of enjoy the Fourth of July holiday with a vacation day!

Hope everyone enjoys the festivities and fireworks!!

I promised...

So all my dedicated followers may notice the official name change of the blog. I'm no longer a "soon-to-be" ex-grad student. I'm an ex-grad student now! And that happened a couple weeks ago which means it's way past time for an update.

Back in March I got called for jury duty, I couldn't get out of it but I got to postpone until school was over. So on the Monday after I graduated I had to head downtown to the County Courthouse to perform my civic duty. I got called into the jury pool for the third case of the day which just happened to be a double homicide. Lucky me. Well, I didn't know exactly how the jury selection process works, but apparently you have to say something to get yourself unselected. Nothing I said raised any red flags that got me kicked off the island.

They told us the trial would probably last all week--and they were right. Three full days of testimony from all kinds of witnesses: officers on duty, sheriffs deputies, police investigators, gang specialists, character witnesses, and eye witnesses. Followed by two days of jury deliberations. It was an intense week. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. There were tears in the jury room from most of us--me included. If you know me, you know that's unusual because I'm not a crier. It doesn't matter how clear the evidence is, it's hard to be responsible for sending a kid away to prison for life.

After the judge read our verdict on Friday afternoon, the whole jury was escorted out of the courtroom by sheriff's deputies. Since I'd taken the light rail downtown, I got a ride all the way home in the back of a gang unit deputy car. Like I said, the whole experience was way too intense for my first week of summer "vacation."

Since then I've been working and working some more. I'll give an update on the job(s) in my next post!

alive

I'm posting this to say that I am alive and I promise to write a real post this week. Now that it's official, it will be done!

stressssss

Well, three weeks completed at the new job and I can't say that I'm particularly enjoying it. Right now it's just stressing me out, which is apparently normal at this time of the year which is the company's busy season. Think tax season for an accountant. I've been working on two projects, neither of which I've been able to finish and now people are asking me...why not? Well, the past two days I've been given another assignment which is a "top priority," so what do I do??

So here's the lowdown on what I've been doing: trying to book 12-passenger vans all over the country. This was supposed to be finished this week, but it hasn't. Oops. It's hard when you have to wait on a phone call back from somebody in Richmond, only to have them tell you that they don't have what you need. So then you move on to plan B or C and plan B requires extra paperwork.

Then there's the travel arrangements. Response from the boss lady: "well that plane ticket's too expensive. Email so-and-so in France and see if they can travel on different dates." Well so-and-so in France takes four days to get back to me. Meanwhile, I have anxious parents and students waiting for a plane ticket. THIS is as cheap as it's gonna be! Please let me book it! So frustrating. I have all the arrangements made, I just have to hit "purchase." And yes, I know it's a $1400 ticket, but that's not my fault and it's just going to keep getting more expensive.

And now there's a new assignment: recruiting host families in Arlington, VA. Why is this my responsibility and why has that been placed on the top of my to-do list, when I know I'm going to get yelled at next week for not having all the vans rented? So, if anyone out there has contacts in Arlington who may want to host a Chinese student for two weeks this summer, let me know because it would really help me out :P

Things I am learning about my job: I'm more of a people person than I thought...especially in work situations. Though this job is in the right field, I want to work more directly with the people and students involved in studying abroad or on exchanges. Also, I need to have periodic successes to stay fulfilled. I want to finish these vans as much as they want me to. I do not want to be a recruiter. And I need to not live so far away from my job that it could take me an hour in traffic to get home from work. I totally dwell on things and do not want to sit and stew about something and get more and more annoyed about it while I'm in the car. This is not a good look for me. I need to be able to leave work at work. I'm upset that I'm stressed about not being at work for almost a week. I hate that. I should be able to enjoy the fact that I have the full Memorial Day weekend off, but I will be dwelling on those things I need to get accomplished on Wednesday. Sad that this job is kinda making me miss Target....

Oh, did I mention that tomorrow is my last day of classes ever??? And that a week from tomorrow, I'll have a Master's degree?? Go me!!

direction

I started this blog in order to track my progress through the job search universe. I didn't expect to find a job (even part-time) so quickly. I expected to write about the many resumes and cover letters sent into the abyss without ever receiving a response. I expected to write about the failed interviews. I expected to keep track of my rejections. Instead, I've found a job in the study abroad field which is where I want to be. I found the posting on the highly-reputable Craigslist, sent them my resume Monday night, got an email Tuesday morning, interviewed Wednesday, got a phone call Thursday afternoon, and started on Monday morning. This all happened so quick I couldn't even write separate blogs about it!

I'm so very thankful for the opportunity to hang out in Colorado some more and get some hands-on experience in the field I want to have a "real" career in. But what am I going to write about now??

I could write about having spent all weekend working at Target and trying to get some overdue class assignments done...about not being able to do my laundry because either my roommate or her boyfriend is always using the washing machine...about how it was finally a beautiful day today but I was inside and couldn't enjoy it...about relying on caffeine this week to keep my sanity...about my class assignment to devise a communication strategy to address the issue of Polish teenage girls sleeping with men in malls who will buy them designer jeans as payment...about a serious invitation I got from a guy at work to go to the Tilted Kilt just to "eat"...about how the lilac is blooming all over Denver and it smells so nice...about rediscovering my love of Subway and the $5 combo...

Anyway, the point is...what direction can this blog go in? I don't know if any of those things are interesting enough to write more than a sentence about. So stay tuned to see if I figure it out!

not dead yet

Today is day #5 (of 14) of working three jobs without a day off and I haven't lost my mind yet. The new job is good so far. I've been doing pretty much what I expected: 12-passenger van rentals and plane ticket reservations. Today while I was looking up ticket prices for some high school students to travel to Spain and France, it really got me itching to travel too! But when will I have time? I've already mentioned a trip to Florida to revisit my escape there, but why not internationally? I've never been to Paris...or lots of other places for that matter! And September would be a great time to travel because it's so much cheaper and everything is less crowded...Since I won't be in school anymore, I won't have to let the academic calendar dictate my vacation schedule! Freedom!

Who's with me???