Make Room In the Bandwagon...

Make room in the bandwagon, I finally gave in and created a blog. I didn't do it though, just to ride the blog craze. I've actually been thinking about it for quite some time. I've been LJ'ing for quite some time, but I tend to use that for more personal thoughts, feelings, and writing. It's not an address I like to give out to the casual blog reader, I keep it more for me and my close circle of friends already on LJ. But, I enjoy going back and reading previous entries from years ago to see what I was doing, how I thought back then.

I thought this blog would be a good way to:
a) help me remember what I did over the next year or so. Not only because I have a horrible time remembering things (ask my friends, they'll attest to this.) but also because this year marks a handful of firsts for me. This year for the first time:

1) I'll have 2 roommates I don't know. ( first time since freshan year.)
2) be an RA.
3) live away from home for the summer in Burlington.
4) marketing internship this summer.

And, next year at this time, I'll hopefully be able to look back and read about all the things I've done and actually remember some things. God, I hate this flaw, seriously.

Also, I realized lately that I don't write anymore- at all. There are a few scattered poems, stories, and reflections in my LJ, but not nearly as much as I used to have in high school. Hopefully, forcing myself to write in this blog regularly will stir up the creative juices within me and I'll rile up some inspiration.

I also hope it will indirectly help people get to know me better. It's pretty hard for me to divulge my true personality to people other than my close friends, and I don't really talk about myself unless you ask me. And, if I feel like you're not really interested, I'll close right back up. It's just how I am. But, a journal allows me to open myself up slightly without having to worry about the reader's attention span. If you're interested, you'll read it. If not, you won't. There's no hurt inflicted on me.

Lastly, it allows me to collect my thoughts and put them down in an organized manner. My continuous goal in life is to truly discover who I am, and what I'm about. Placing my thoughts down on electronic "paper" and reading them later with a fresh eye allows me to get a better understanding of myself. Sometimes I see things in a new light or from a different perspective. I'm able to analyze situations and the actions I took. I've discovered new things about myself; new likes, dislikes, personality quirks, pet peeves, aspirations, challenges, successes, failures, and just overall qualities that make up Me.

So, with all of that said, here's the maiden voyage on the ship of perpetual reflection...all aboard...


It's May 1st. Well, since its 2:30am, May 2nd. But for all intents and purposes ( and since I haven't gone to bed yet) it's the very first day of May. What better day to start a blog?May signifies the starting gates for summer, rejuvenation of life, and the end of April showers and beginning of May flowers. Well, hopefully.

It also marks a week since I've been officially finished with school for the summer. It was a haul; the last week I think I spent every night in the lab either editing video or swimming in InDesign for a magazine re-design. But, it was worth every hour of work when the final products were finished. And, now that I'm finished, I'm in what I call the "floating stage."

For someone who's had a constant job since she was 12 years old, it feels weird not to have a job right now. I never realized how much I worked until I spent the last week sitting here without a job. But, despite my work history, the job application process is a new thing to me, sad to say. I've always gotten my jobs through word of mouth, or through a family/friend connection. Except for working at the daycare, I've known all my bosses before they actually became my boss, too. My first job as a camp counselor in 6th grade was for the middle school I was attending; in a school of 200 kids, every teacher and faculty knows you pretty well. For 2.5 years after that I worked for the local full service gas station that my family had been going to for years. The boss remembered me from when I was just knee high to a grasshopper. Then, after that I found out about the daycare position through a friend who had been working there, who's aunt was also the assistant director there. Easy peasy. I got a temp job as an elf at the mall (yeah, I was an elf. =D ) through the parents of one of the children at the daycare. The mother worked at a photography studio in the area, so I had a few small things through her as well. Then, I worked off and on for my dad at his insurance agency as well as a painter for one of his clients (and a good hunting buddy of the family). And, one of my dad's old flames asked me if I wanted my most recent job last summer. She was also, coincidently, the boss. Sounds like a potential awkward situation, but really, everything was fine.

The only job I did have to apply to was for my school position as Phoneathon ambassador. But, I don't really consider this a "real" application process, really. Wow, and now that you pretty much know my entire employment history, let's move on...

So, needless to say, this is my first time "blindly" applying to corporate and retail job positions. It's also put me in the same boat for internships. Submitting cover letters and resumes, not knowing the people I'm contacting for job positions, playing the waiting game to hear back from employers- all new to me, unfortunately. I've applied to Blockbuster in 3 locations, as well as e-mailed about the availability of a few on campus jobs and one Final Cut Pro job. Not sure if I have enough experience for what they were looking for, though. I've submitted applications to two internship places and interviewed from one, but still waiting to hear back from both businesses.

The sticky part of the situation is that one internship, if I was hired, would be a full time, paid internship. Therefore, eliminating the need for a job. But, I can't put all my eggs in one basket, so I'm applying to other, non-paying internships. This means I'd need a job, as well-one that was flexible with my internship hours. And to top it all off, as the start date for the internship class approaches, I've learned one thing- you need to start this damned process much earlier than this.

*facedesk*. Live and learn, I guess. I'll just keep applying to jobs and internships...one of them has got to get back to me eventually, right? I hope so.

When not submitting applications, resumes, and cover letters, I've been working on some housekeeping issues, tying up loose ends here and there for the school year, and getting my financial aid in place. I also registered for the internship class, and discovered that I was eligible for financial aid if I enrolled in one more. So, this summer will consist of Interning AND Critical Thinking. whoo. After last summer's experience with online classes, I refused to take a history. If you are not a fan of history (like me) you definitely won't be a fan of taking it online.

Staying here for the summer also means that Amanda and I need to move into our apartment for next fall on Saturday. We've been working hard on packing up all of our junk, which is a considerable amount- after you've lived in Spinner in for two years, you collect quite a bit. Plus, when you move stuff and pack it up, you fully realize how much you NEED to clean. I'm sure much more of this will happen tomorrow and Saturday when we can move some of our stuff over to the new apartment, but we've gotten a head start on it.

I'm considering this a fresh start. Condensing all of my stuff into boxes and storage bins gives me a fresh new canvas to work with. And, after living here for 2 years, this year will be the first time I've had a different room. Even though I've lived in 2 separate apartments, I've always had the same letter room, meaning the exact same layout. And, the way it's designed, the re-arranging possibilities are very slim to none. I'm excited to be able to actually MOVE the furniture around this year.

I'm hoping the summer will give me enough time to truly refine my organizational skills. I worked on it this year, although its admittedly still pretty poor. My Myers-Briggs test was right- I enjoy being organized, even though I rarely am. It's why I've always enjoyed the first two weeks of school- my organizational systems are still in place. After that, you're lucky if you can find my desk amongst the clutter. But, this year I feel its especially important, not only because of the RA position but also for my mental sanity. I'll be juggling my school work, the RA position, maybe a second job on campus, as well as extra curricular activities such as the improv troupe and Champlain theater. If I'm not organized, I don't know where I'm supposed to be from day to day. Look at my calendar, you'll understand. Really. But, I'm already coming up with fun things that will keep me organized next year-ideally. I want to invest in some dry erase or chalkboard paint (yeah, they actually have these!) to create my assignment squares and a memo board for myself. As I said before, I have a horrible memory problem. If I don't write it down, chances are I'll forget it in the next few hours. This will help me keep my assignments on track, as well as long term assignments and upcoming events/activities/rehearsals and whatnot. I want to get more plastic drawers for under the bed and under the desk storage for my increasing art supplies collection. This will get it out of my way AND keep it organized. I also want to get a bulletin board for all of the nic nacs and other personal items I collect over the year. In the past, I've just tacked or taped them to the wall, and towards the end of the year it just becomes a scattered eclectic mess. My theory is, if the entire space around me is organized, then it will encourage me to be too. This means a unified AND organized design scheme, as well. We'll see how it all goes though. Like I said- come looking for my desk after the first two weeks of school to test out the system.

Wow, it's 3:30am. This has been a long post. They probably all won't be this long. A) I won't have as much to say and B) I won't have the time to write all this. But, I want to work hard to maintain this. I'll be thankful later, I know it. So, I'll close today with a quote from C.S. Lewis:

"Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement."

I'll take this as every rejected or ignored job/internship application means that the big'un is just waiting around the corner.....I hope! Eeks, wish me luck.

P.s. the domain name will probably change as soon as I think of something better. Stay tuned.