Wow, cant believe I havent updated on here recently.
The job is amazing. AMA-XI-NG. I cannot even put into words how happy I am. Ever since I got a bunch of accounts assigned to me, I am SO BUSY during the day. Jonny is afraid I'm going to become a workaholic. I've been going in to the office about 45 minutes early each morning because right now, I FEEL behind. They tell me I'm not, they tell me that I'm doing okay. However, I was put in as the second Alpha Xi Delta representative (YAY!), so rather than doing the norm of 25 accounts, and then 2 weeks later, 25 more accounts, etc etc until I had a full load, I got 26 random accounts initially, and then was piled on with 56 AXiD accounts. Which is fine, but I'm still transitioning and introducing myself to my admins....and it's taking some time to fully transition. I like going in a few minutes early to have some quiet time to work on administrative stuff - bc once the phone starts ringing, it doesnt stop. So I'm going to have just 82 accounts for a little while, and then I guess they will start giving me a few more once I'm up to speed with these that I have.
Nonetheless, I'm having the absolute time of my life. I enjoy being able to help my Alpha Xi Delta sisters across the country, as well as the few other sorority and fraternity chapters I also have. I am SO grateful to Alpha Xi Delta - for allowing me to realize my potential - that I'm good with finances, I'm good with managing a chapter's finances. I got to do it as FVP, and advise at GSU....and now, I do it for many chapters as my career. AHHHHHHHH!!!!
I talked to one of my admins from a school up north yesterday. Poor girl, I just wanted to reach through the phone and give her a hug. She doesnt have a financial advisor, and she feels overwhelmed. I dont want to say too many details for privacy reasons...but I think by the time I got off the phone with her, she felt better about her position and what it was she was supposed to be doing. I spoke with another sister who's chapter was having initiation this weekend, and she was so thrilled to tell me "TFJ!!!" as we were getting off the phone... Brooke told me if I wasn't careful, I'd have all these girls wanting me as their financial advisor...HAHAH! Nah, cant be your official advisor, but I can certainly help you out with AXiD financial policies. Speaking of which - new stuff Omega is rolling out for AXiD in January= Frikkin AMAXING. So excited for the new services and how streamlined and efficient it's going to make things. YEEEAH!
Random fact: I have one sorority chapter (not AXiD) that has 254 members. Holy Moly! I cannot even imagine being in a chapter that big. Can you imagine the chapter meetings? Or the socials? How does a chapter than big even function? I bet risk management is an absolute nightmare....
Hope you guys are doing well, and have a Happy Thanksgiving with your families and loved ones this week. Take care.
<3,
Amanda
22 November 2008
11 September 2008
AWESOME....but terrifying stuff going on.....
First and foremost - my job search is OVER!!!!!! After what seems like an eternity, I can finally say that I'm thankful things turned out the way they did, because the job I've recently been offered is 10 million times better than any of those interviews I went on earlier this year.
I'm going to be an account manager for Omega Financial! AXiD's, you should know what this is....I am so thrilled I can hardly control myself.
I'm on cloud nine - I'm putting in my notice at the credit union on the 26th and that will probably actually be my last day, due to their security policies. I hope it will be anyway, I need that time off to get situated.
Jonny and I will be moving to Columbus GA. He is currently in school at Georgia Perimeter College in Dunwoody. So our initial idea was that he would stay in our apartment until December, when classes were over, and then we'd break the lease and he would come in Columbus to be with me. In the mean time, I would have temporary housing arrangements, while searching for a home to hopefully move into by December. The plan was that he would come to Columbus on the weekends while we searched for a home.
Well, the more we thought about our situation, the more we realized we didnt want to rush into buying a home right away. We've never owned before, and we desperately want a house, but because neither one of us knows the area at all (my interview was literally the first time I had ever been to Columbus) we decided that it would be better to get an apartment to start off with, while getting to know the area, and take our time to find a home.
That being said, what we've decided to do now is, in order to avoid paying penalties for breaking our lease, we're going to look into moving to another Mid America apartment community, which is the same management company that our current apt is managed by. So in December, we'll move out of our apt and into either Whisperwood or Willow Creek. We were planning on going to Columbus next weekend to make arrangements and put an apt on hold for us for that time so that one will be available for us when we're ready for it. We'll probably do a 3 month or 6 month lease option at that point, depending on price and availability.
The problem I'm still running in to, is I still need something temporary to last me from mid-October through mid-December. I have tried everything i can think of at this point to find a roommate or suitable and affordable situation. I've signed up on roommates.com, with no luck because most people want long term leasers. I even targetted military families who might want a roommate to split the bills with. I've tried contacting the auburn alumnae association of my sorority to meet people in the area who might have a room available for short term rent. I checked out CSU, to see if they had any dorms or student housing that wasnt filled that I might could get lucky and stay in short term...no luck there. I looked on craigslist, and got not response....I really have no idea what else to try at ths point.
And finally, the most affordable extended stay place I can find is Value Place (www.valueplace.com) which actually looked like a really good idea, considering all the ammenities, but it's still $179 a week, which is over $700 a month, which is more than I can afford to pay, while continuing to pay for my apt in woodstock while my husband is still in school. Plus, it's on the south side of town, which everybody tells me is not a good area for a female to be by herself. I was hoping to find a temporary roommate situation for $400 a month or less. Maybe a military family, or a student with an extra room. I only need something for 2 months until we can get him out of classes and moved down this way so we can get one of the apartments. I simply cannot afford to be in a car for 5+ hours a day and 270 miles roundtrip... :(
So....that's the downside to my situation. I gotta figure out how to get through the next two months given the circumstances....
I just want to scream. I'm so dag blasted excited about this next chapter in my life..... YEEEEEAH!!!!!
I'm going to be an account manager for Omega Financial! AXiD's, you should know what this is....I am so thrilled I can hardly control myself.
I'm on cloud nine - I'm putting in my notice at the credit union on the 26th and that will probably actually be my last day, due to their security policies. I hope it will be anyway, I need that time off to get situated.
Jonny and I will be moving to Columbus GA. He is currently in school at Georgia Perimeter College in Dunwoody. So our initial idea was that he would stay in our apartment until December, when classes were over, and then we'd break the lease and he would come in Columbus to be with me. In the mean time, I would have temporary housing arrangements, while searching for a home to hopefully move into by December. The plan was that he would come to Columbus on the weekends while we searched for a home.
Well, the more we thought about our situation, the more we realized we didnt want to rush into buying a home right away. We've never owned before, and we desperately want a house, but because neither one of us knows the area at all (my interview was literally the first time I had ever been to Columbus) we decided that it would be better to get an apartment to start off with, while getting to know the area, and take our time to find a home.
That being said, what we've decided to do now is, in order to avoid paying penalties for breaking our lease, we're going to look into moving to another Mid America apartment community, which is the same management company that our current apt is managed by. So in December, we'll move out of our apt and into either Whisperwood or Willow Creek. We were planning on going to Columbus next weekend to make arrangements and put an apt on hold for us for that time so that one will be available for us when we're ready for it. We'll probably do a 3 month or 6 month lease option at that point, depending on price and availability.
The problem I'm still running in to, is I still need something temporary to last me from mid-October through mid-December. I have tried everything i can think of at this point to find a roommate or suitable and affordable situation. I've signed up on roommates.com, with no luck because most people want long term leasers. I even targetted military families who might want a roommate to split the bills with. I've tried contacting the auburn alumnae association of my sorority to meet people in the area who might have a room available for short term rent. I checked out CSU, to see if they had any dorms or student housing that wasnt filled that I might could get lucky and stay in short term...no luck there. I looked on craigslist, and got not response....I really have no idea what else to try at ths point.
And finally, the most affordable extended stay place I can find is Value Place (www.valueplace.com) which actually looked like a really good idea, considering all the ammenities, but it's still $179 a week, which is over $700 a month, which is more than I can afford to pay, while continuing to pay for my apt in woodstock while my husband is still in school. Plus, it's on the south side of town, which everybody tells me is not a good area for a female to be by herself. I was hoping to find a temporary roommate situation for $400 a month or less. Maybe a military family, or a student with an extra room. I only need something for 2 months until we can get him out of classes and moved down this way so we can get one of the apartments. I simply cannot afford to be in a car for 5+ hours a day and 270 miles roundtrip... :(
So....that's the downside to my situation. I gotta figure out how to get through the next two months given the circumstances....
I just want to scream. I'm so dag blasted excited about this next chapter in my life..... YEEEEEAH!!!!!
24 April 2008
Grad School
One of the things my parents always told me they admired about me is that I always seemed to have a plan, and that I lived my life, I didn't let me life live me. For example: in high school, I tossed around the idea of college. I had an idea where I wanted to go but hadn't quite made up my mind. For the heck of it, one day, I took the ASVAB exam. Apparently, I did really well on it. The Army called me and would not leave me alone about my asvab scores and did I want to join the army. Long story short, I finally said 'okay, fine, I'll come talk to you guys.'
After talking to them, i decided that maybe the military was a cool idea. My dad advised me to check out all the branches before I made a decision. Because of his advise, i did check out all the branches (except marines, no thank you...) The air force told me I was too fat, and to be honest, I didn't want to crawl around in the mud for the army.
So as they say.... 'in the navy......'
So, my senior year in high school, I enlisted in the Navy and shipped out in November after having graduated in June. I had a plan. Do the military for 4 years, get the GIBill, go home, go to school, get a job, and hopefully at some point, find my soul mate and eventually start a family.
At this point, I've done all of the above, except, the starting a family one. I have a job. But I'm not happy with it. So until I can be happy with my job - happy enough to where I wont just get up and walk out one day, and risk my income, I cannot, and will not consider starting a family. Oh yeah, and we live in an apartment right now. I want a house for babies, thankyouverymuch.
Yeah. Nowhere in that "plan" was there ever anything about grad school. I didn't ever see myself doing it. My senior year of college, a few people asked me about grad school, and my response was "ehh, maybe one day, after I've popped out a few babies and they've gone off to school. But right away after undergrad? no way..."
Well, just shy of one year after graduating from SPSU....6 months after getting married....almost a year at my "job"....I'm in this "I never expected to feel this way after graduation" state of mind. I'm torn. My home life, is FABULOUS. I love being married. My husband is the greatest, and even though they say the first year is the hardest, we've managed to do pretty damn good so far. My extra curricular life is still fabulous. Quite honestly, it keeps me happy. I LOOOOOOVE being an advisor to the chapter at GA State (even though they hate me because I have such a tight leash on their checkbook). I love when the girls come to me and ask for advice. I love helping. I LOVE giving back to the organization that made me realize alot about myself. Mushy mushy crap, yeah, I know....sorry, but it's true. My friends are great. They've done amazing things for me, and I couldn't have asked for better friends...
So basically, I'm torn about my life right now because I LOVE everything - everything about my life except my job, and I miss school TERRIBLY. I pursued an Information Technology field of training for 4 years. 4 in the military, and 4 through undergrad. I've been "working" in IT for a year now. I HATE IT. Actually, let me rephrase. I'm BORED with the IT that I'm qualified for. The IT that I think I would have fun at, I don't have the qualifications, for, and nobody will hire me in those jobs to get the experience.
So fine, whatever. Though there are parts of IT I still love, I've realized I have a passion for something else. Money. Finance, and Accounting. Numbers. Budgeting, billing, AP/AR, ledger work. Administrative stuff involving numbers. That's what i want to do with my life. I loved being FVP in AXiD. I love being an advisor, and you know what? If I do say so myself, I'm damn good at it. Unfortunately, I have no formal finance education, or paid experience in this field.
So after being unhappy at my job for over 6 months. After applying for finance jobs, with not much luck for over 3 months, I finally decided to regroup. I asked myself "What can i do, to improve my work life situation? How can I get experience in finance? Either educational or paid experience? Well, you haven't had much luck getting a paid job getting the experience, so it looks like education is the next step."
So I made a new "plan" for my life....
Initially, I was going to get an accounting career certificate online through a local technical school. But after much thought, and the fact that half of the classes were repeats from my undergrad days, I nixed that idea. Higher education, I thought, might be a good idea. So i started researching. I knew I didnt really want to sit in a class room again. I knew I wanted to keep the ability to work full time, now that I'm married and trying to get settled into married life so that eventually we can start a family. So I started looking for classes part time and online.
Kennesaw, GSU and West GA didnt have quite what I was looking for. I started researching online universities, and filled out some interest forms for someone to get back in touch with me to answer some questions.
So.....with all that said and done, I am proud to say that on May 5th, 2008 (ironically, exactly 1 year after I graduated from SPSU) I will begin taking online classes for an MBA in Finance through Grand Canyon University out of Phoenix AZ. I just missed school too danged much...and I really want a job in finance. At least this way, I can put some education experience/goals on my resume for finance, rather than "how cute, you were FVP of your sorority, and you want a job..." as my only experience.
Blergh. Why cant employers just risk and take a chance on someone? I guess it's meant to be this way. I guess I was meant to go grad school all along, and just didnt know it.
WOOO! I'm excited. I get to stimulate my brain again!
*edit* If you're looking into online schooling options, undergrad, or grad, or even certificate programs, and want to talk to someone, my enrollment counsellor Jeremy Ketterer was amazing. If you want to talk to him to get some answers to questions about how the program works, you can request info at his website at http://gcu.edu/ec/jketterer, or call him at 1.888.293.2566
After talking to them, i decided that maybe the military was a cool idea. My dad advised me to check out all the branches before I made a decision. Because of his advise, i did check out all the branches (except marines, no thank you...) The air force told me I was too fat, and to be honest, I didn't want to crawl around in the mud for the army.
So as they say.... 'in the navy......'
So, my senior year in high school, I enlisted in the Navy and shipped out in November after having graduated in June. I had a plan. Do the military for 4 years, get the GIBill, go home, go to school, get a job, and hopefully at some point, find my soul mate and eventually start a family.
At this point, I've done all of the above, except, the starting a family one. I have a job. But I'm not happy with it. So until I can be happy with my job - happy enough to where I wont just get up and walk out one day, and risk my income, I cannot, and will not consider starting a family. Oh yeah, and we live in an apartment right now. I want a house for babies, thankyouverymuch.
Yeah. Nowhere in that "plan" was there ever anything about grad school. I didn't ever see myself doing it. My senior year of college, a few people asked me about grad school, and my response was "ehh, maybe one day, after I've popped out a few babies and they've gone off to school. But right away after undergrad? no way..."
Well, just shy of one year after graduating from SPSU....6 months after getting married....almost a year at my "job"....I'm in this "I never expected to feel this way after graduation" state of mind. I'm torn. My home life, is FABULOUS. I love being married. My husband is the greatest, and even though they say the first year is the hardest, we've managed to do pretty damn good so far. My extra curricular life is still fabulous. Quite honestly, it keeps me happy. I LOOOOOOVE being an advisor to the chapter at GA State (even though they hate me because I have such a tight leash on their checkbook). I love when the girls come to me and ask for advice. I love helping. I LOVE giving back to the organization that made me realize alot about myself. Mushy mushy crap, yeah, I know....sorry, but it's true. My friends are great. They've done amazing things for me, and I couldn't have asked for better friends...
So basically, I'm torn about my life right now because I LOVE everything - everything about my life except my job, and I miss school TERRIBLY. I pursued an Information Technology field of training for 4 years. 4 in the military, and 4 through undergrad. I've been "working" in IT for a year now. I HATE IT. Actually, let me rephrase. I'm BORED with the IT that I'm qualified for. The IT that I think I would have fun at, I don't have the qualifications, for, and nobody will hire me in those jobs to get the experience.
So fine, whatever. Though there are parts of IT I still love, I've realized I have a passion for something else. Money. Finance, and Accounting. Numbers. Budgeting, billing, AP/AR, ledger work. Administrative stuff involving numbers. That's what i want to do with my life. I loved being FVP in AXiD. I love being an advisor, and you know what? If I do say so myself, I'm damn good at it. Unfortunately, I have no formal finance education, or paid experience in this field.
So after being unhappy at my job for over 6 months. After applying for finance jobs, with not much luck for over 3 months, I finally decided to regroup. I asked myself "What can i do, to improve my work life situation? How can I get experience in finance? Either educational or paid experience? Well, you haven't had much luck getting a paid job getting the experience, so it looks like education is the next step."
So I made a new "plan" for my life....
Initially, I was going to get an accounting career certificate online through a local technical school. But after much thought, and the fact that half of the classes were repeats from my undergrad days, I nixed that idea. Higher education, I thought, might be a good idea. So i started researching. I knew I didnt really want to sit in a class room again. I knew I wanted to keep the ability to work full time, now that I'm married and trying to get settled into married life so that eventually we can start a family. So I started looking for classes part time and online.
Kennesaw, GSU and West GA didnt have quite what I was looking for. I started researching online universities, and filled out some interest forms for someone to get back in touch with me to answer some questions.
So.....with all that said and done, I am proud to say that on May 5th, 2008 (ironically, exactly 1 year after I graduated from SPSU) I will begin taking online classes for an MBA in Finance through Grand Canyon University out of Phoenix AZ. I just missed school too danged much...and I really want a job in finance. At least this way, I can put some education experience/goals on my resume for finance, rather than "how cute, you were FVP of your sorority, and you want a job..." as my only experience.
Blergh. Why cant employers just risk and take a chance on someone? I guess it's meant to be this way. I guess I was meant to go grad school all along, and just didnt know it.
WOOO! I'm excited. I get to stimulate my brain again!
*edit* If you're looking into online schooling options, undergrad, or grad, or even certificate programs, and want to talk to someone, my enrollment counsellor Jeremy Ketterer was amazing. If you want to talk to him to get some answers to questions about how the program works, you can request info at his website at http://gcu.edu/ec/jketterer, or call him at 1.888.293.2566
10 December 2007
Find something you're good at....
...and stick with it. That's what my dad always told me.
I graduated a little over 7 months ago. I'm in a job that's not bad...but it's slow, and quite honestly, I'm bored alot of the times. Desktop support. Sure, I'm good at it, when there is stuff to do, but when there's not - I feel like I have to search too hard to find something to keep myself busy. I hate being slow. I hate being bored. I hate not having enough work to do.
I've talked with some of my friends about this, and Jonny and I discussed it over the weekend. When I look back on my life, the different periods of time and look at the one thing I was most occupied in...I see a pattern. When I was in high school, I was super involved in band. I wasn't the best player, but I was pretty good. Band, unfortunately, was not something I was able to stick with though, due to the next course in my life....the navy.
Those of you who know me, know this...I SUCKED at the navy. Jesus H Christ, I hated it. I hated the politics, I hated the games. I hated the brown-nosing, I hated being away from home. I hated the two faced people who were your friend to your face and talked crap behind your back. I hated it with a passion. I loved going overseas, seeing places I otherwise probably would have never had the opportunity to...but I hated the people who I worked with. To this day, I still only talk to about 4 people that I was close to in the service. The rest of the folks can kiss my you-know-where.
Why am I telling you all this? Because being so bad at something as I was in the navy put me in such a depression that when i finally finished my contract and was FREE and able to get the hell out of dodge and go home - it *inspired* me to find something I could be good at. I didnt know what that thing was going to be right away, but I just knew I had to find something I could excel in.
During the Fall of 2003, my first semester in college..I was trying to get reacquainted to 'civilian life'. I had a job making barely more than minimum wage...simply because it was flexible with my school schedule. I got up. I went to class, went to work, went home, did homework, went to bed, got up and repeated the process. It sucked. I had little to no social life, my friends from high school were married, or had moved on, had jobs, etc etc. Me...I was 4 years behind everyone else. That thing called the navy had put a kink in the road of life. At least, that's how it felt at the time (I eventually got over that feeling when I realized they were paying for my education).
January 2004, first day of classes, I walk onto campus and I see these posters everywhere. "Alpha Xi Delta has a place for you." they said. Hmm, what's that all about? See there was already one sorority on campus, who I had met during fall semester....but I had convinced myself that one, I was too damn old for a sorority, and two....I wasn't the sorority type. I didnt want to conform to rules and regulations, because for goodness sakes, I had just gotten away from 4 years of the military doing it to me. Plus, I didnt want to join the one and only sorority on campus just to be able to say that I was in a sorority. Fall semester, I didnt have much of a choice - if I wanted to join a sorority, that one was it. I chose to not join.
Now, when Alpha Xi Delta started advertising on campus in January - after a miserable first semester with no social life, no friends, all work and no play, it made me reconsider my thoughts on whether or not I wanted to join one. I decided "What the hell, I'll go to the information session and see what they are all about. It cant hurt, right?" Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
I was sold. SPSU didnt have many women (17% or so at that time, I think). Sorority women had lots of opportunities, leadership skills, etc...and if I joined this one, I wouldnt have to conform to rules and regulations - I would be able to help create them - along with traditions that would be followed for years and years. You see, Alpha Xi Delta was going to be a colony that semester, and the girls who joined would be the founding sisters.
I didnt know anything about sororities. I had some negative opinions based on the media, but nobody in my family was Greek, at least, not that I knew of, and so I didnt really have much to go on. Of course, everybody knows the whole "buying your friends" stereotype...but to that, I now say 'Whatever' bc everything in life costs something. Be it band, football, cross country, or boy scouts - you have to pay for everything in life...so whatever.
To this day, I remember being at home on the evening of the preference ceremony that I had been invited to, after attending the information sessions. I was in my bedroom with my mom, brushing my hair, making sure I looked okay, and my mom just laughed at me. I told her "I cannot believe I'm falling for this sorority crap. I'm going to be really disappointed if they dont pick me. Now that I've decided I want to do it - what if they turn me down?"
Well, needless to say, I was worrying for nothing. As a 23 year old freshman and still-salty sailor, I became one of the chosen few to become a founding sister of Alpha Xi Delta at SPSU. I dove right in. The first semester as a colony was the hardest. We lost a few girls who decided they couldnt handle it. We had ALOT of work to do. We had to write our chapter documents, figure out which of us was going to hold what officer position, we had to learn financial management...because it was a small business, ya know...and in the midst of all that - we were supposed to have fun and be sisters. It was hard. Ask any colony member of any sorority, and they'll tell you the same thing.
Because we were such a small school, with not many females, our membership numbers were low the first few years (less than 10). Because of this, I got to hold more than one office, and REALLY had the opportunity to "realize my potential." I held the offices of recording secretary, ritual chair, alumnae relations, office manager, financial vice president, publicity chair, webmaster, and new member orientation chair during my 3 1/2 years active in the chapter. At least...those are the offices I remember holding. I probably did more than that for all I know.... Looking back, it's obvious that my leadership strengths came from being the busy bee worker in the background. I did the little stuff that most everybody else forgot about...and I'm GOOD at it too.
I got my degree in Information Technology. I love computers. I love web design. As soon as I can afford to take more classes to learn more web design, I'm doing to work on improving my skills. However, I've recently had an Ah-Hah! moment. The stuff I did in the background as a collegiate..... The things I do as an advisor for another chapter now..... The research and follow up on problems, or researching new ideas, or finding new ways to help with PR, etc etc....those are the things I have realized that I am really good at. I realized this weekend that if I could find a job, doing the exact same stuff I do for the sorority, I would be the happiest person in the world. But what kind of title does "busy bee worker behind the scenes" have in corporate america? Is he/she an event planner? Is he/she a campus activities advisor (another job I would LOVE to have, but sorry, I am not going back to school for a masters degree to make $35K a year, nu uh.) I love working with computers, but I think if I could figure out what kind of job to look for to do the stuff I'm good at, I'd be better off...I think my ideal job is somewhat of a mix between administrative assistant, event planner and campus activities advisor combined. What the heck do you call that?
SO yeah....if you're reading this....and you know what kind of job I'm talking about...or if nothing else ....what kind of title a person that does those things would have...please enlighten me. That way, I can change my job search focus from computers to ...whatever else it might be. And if you're in the Atlanta area and know someone who is hiring that kind of position....please give me the 411. Thanks.
I graduated a little over 7 months ago. I'm in a job that's not bad...but it's slow, and quite honestly, I'm bored alot of the times. Desktop support. Sure, I'm good at it, when there is stuff to do, but when there's not - I feel like I have to search too hard to find something to keep myself busy. I hate being slow. I hate being bored. I hate not having enough work to do.
I've talked with some of my friends about this, and Jonny and I discussed it over the weekend. When I look back on my life, the different periods of time and look at the one thing I was most occupied in...I see a pattern. When I was in high school, I was super involved in band. I wasn't the best player, but I was pretty good. Band, unfortunately, was not something I was able to stick with though, due to the next course in my life....the navy.
Those of you who know me, know this...I SUCKED at the navy. Jesus H Christ, I hated it. I hated the politics, I hated the games. I hated the brown-nosing, I hated being away from home. I hated the two faced people who were your friend to your face and talked crap behind your back. I hated it with a passion. I loved going overseas, seeing places I otherwise probably would have never had the opportunity to...but I hated the people who I worked with. To this day, I still only talk to about 4 people that I was close to in the service. The rest of the folks can kiss my you-know-where.
Why am I telling you all this? Because being so bad at something as I was in the navy put me in such a depression that when i finally finished my contract and was FREE and able to get the hell out of dodge and go home - it *inspired* me to find something I could be good at. I didnt know what that thing was going to be right away, but I just knew I had to find something I could excel in.
During the Fall of 2003, my first semester in college..I was trying to get reacquainted to 'civilian life'. I had a job making barely more than minimum wage...simply because it was flexible with my school schedule. I got up. I went to class, went to work, went home, did homework, went to bed, got up and repeated the process. It sucked. I had little to no social life, my friends from high school were married, or had moved on, had jobs, etc etc. Me...I was 4 years behind everyone else. That thing called the navy had put a kink in the road of life. At least, that's how it felt at the time (I eventually got over that feeling when I realized they were paying for my education).
January 2004, first day of classes, I walk onto campus and I see these posters everywhere. "Alpha Xi Delta has a place for you." they said. Hmm, what's that all about? See there was already one sorority on campus, who I had met during fall semester....but I had convinced myself that one, I was too damn old for a sorority, and two....I wasn't the sorority type. I didnt want to conform to rules and regulations, because for goodness sakes, I had just gotten away from 4 years of the military doing it to me. Plus, I didnt want to join the one and only sorority on campus just to be able to say that I was in a sorority. Fall semester, I didnt have much of a choice - if I wanted to join a sorority, that one was it. I chose to not join.
Now, when Alpha Xi Delta started advertising on campus in January - after a miserable first semester with no social life, no friends, all work and no play, it made me reconsider my thoughts on whether or not I wanted to join one. I decided "What the hell, I'll go to the information session and see what they are all about. It cant hurt, right?" Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
I was sold. SPSU didnt have many women (17% or so at that time, I think). Sorority women had lots of opportunities, leadership skills, etc...and if I joined this one, I wouldnt have to conform to rules and regulations - I would be able to help create them - along with traditions that would be followed for years and years. You see, Alpha Xi Delta was going to be a colony that semester, and the girls who joined would be the founding sisters.
I didnt know anything about sororities. I had some negative opinions based on the media, but nobody in my family was Greek, at least, not that I knew of, and so I didnt really have much to go on. Of course, everybody knows the whole "buying your friends" stereotype...but to that, I now say 'Whatever' bc everything in life costs something. Be it band, football, cross country, or boy scouts - you have to pay for everything in life...so whatever.
To this day, I remember being at home on the evening of the preference ceremony that I had been invited to, after attending the information sessions. I was in my bedroom with my mom, brushing my hair, making sure I looked okay, and my mom just laughed at me. I told her "I cannot believe I'm falling for this sorority crap. I'm going to be really disappointed if they dont pick me. Now that I've decided I want to do it - what if they turn me down?"
Well, needless to say, I was worrying for nothing. As a 23 year old freshman and still-salty sailor, I became one of the chosen few to become a founding sister of Alpha Xi Delta at SPSU. I dove right in. The first semester as a colony was the hardest. We lost a few girls who decided they couldnt handle it. We had ALOT of work to do. We had to write our chapter documents, figure out which of us was going to hold what officer position, we had to learn financial management...because it was a small business, ya know...and in the midst of all that - we were supposed to have fun and be sisters. It was hard. Ask any colony member of any sorority, and they'll tell you the same thing.
Because we were such a small school, with not many females, our membership numbers were low the first few years (less than 10). Because of this, I got to hold more than one office, and REALLY had the opportunity to "realize my potential." I held the offices of recording secretary, ritual chair, alumnae relations, office manager, financial vice president, publicity chair, webmaster, and new member orientation chair during my 3 1/2 years active in the chapter. At least...those are the offices I remember holding. I probably did more than that for all I know.... Looking back, it's obvious that my leadership strengths came from being the busy bee worker in the background. I did the little stuff that most everybody else forgot about...and I'm GOOD at it too.
I got my degree in Information Technology. I love computers. I love web design. As soon as I can afford to take more classes to learn more web design, I'm doing to work on improving my skills. However, I've recently had an Ah-Hah! moment. The stuff I did in the background as a collegiate..... The things I do as an advisor for another chapter now..... The research and follow up on problems, or researching new ideas, or finding new ways to help with PR, etc etc....those are the things I have realized that I am really good at. I realized this weekend that if I could find a job, doing the exact same stuff I do for the sorority, I would be the happiest person in the world. But what kind of title does "busy bee worker behind the scenes" have in corporate america? Is he/she an event planner? Is he/she a campus activities advisor (another job I would LOVE to have, but sorry, I am not going back to school for a masters degree to make $35K a year, nu uh.) I love working with computers, but I think if I could figure out what kind of job to look for to do the stuff I'm good at, I'd be better off...I think my ideal job is somewhat of a mix between administrative assistant, event planner and campus activities advisor combined. What the heck do you call that?
SO yeah....if you're reading this....and you know what kind of job I'm talking about...or if nothing else ....what kind of title a person that does those things would have...please enlighten me. That way, I can change my job search focus from computers to ...whatever else it might be. And if you're in the Atlanta area and know someone who is hiring that kind of position....please give me the 411. Thanks.
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