Gratitude Journal: Working Girl

"Workin 9 to 5: 
What a way to make a livin,
Barely gettin by; 
Its all takin 
And no givin.
They just use your mind,
And they never give you credit.
Its enough to drive you 
Crazy if you let it..."

my "new" employee photo for the slideshow at Fall Forum on Friday

Once you become full-time, you get to attend the New Employee Luncheon and get shown off.  So while I have been here for over two years now, I'm still "new".

Working 9 to 5 9:30 to 6 this week...and I'm busy, busy, busy!  Zach is on a different schedule this week because they are doing walk-in appointments, so I changed my schedule, too.  Faculty are back on campus, so I've been running from meeting to meeting, trying to set things up for the start of the new semester next week.  *sigh*  All summer, it was so quiet and calm for me that I am worn out--and it's only Tuesday!

But I LIKE it.  Today, I felt sooooo accomplished.  I got so many things completed, and I got the ball rolling on some good projects.  I feel like I know what I am doing finally, and I enjoy this stuff.  Heck, I know what I'm talking about (or, at least, sound like I do. ;)  Just don't ask me after tomorrow.  I'm thankful that God has put me in a position to do some good, even if a ton of things drive me crazy about where I work.  *lol*  It really is a great place to work!  It's just frustrating when you know so much more could be done.

In my two+ years of being here, I've learned that you just have to keep building it, and they will come.  Or you have to plant those seeds, and someday, it will sprout, and grow tall, and bloom.  You may just never sit under that tree/bush/plant.  Yet I've been fortunate to see a few things come to fruition.  My mentoring program is taking OFF this year:  we had over 350 students already request more information on the program, and after I sent out emails on Friday, I've already had 35 students commit to participate and be paired with a mentor.  For all of last year, I only had about 40-something participate, so I'm getting close to already meeting that number in the first semester.

All week, I've been giving updates on faculty-related projects, and I think we are going to have some big things happen in terms of faculty development and student retention & persistence this year.  :)

Now I just gotta get my lesson plans together for my class.  I am pumped to be focusing on advertising throughout the semester--my students are going to be describing, categorizing, comparing, contrasting, showing causes and effects, creating an argument, and more with ads.  I figured if we can all master the content together and early on, then we can spend more time on building up our expressions of it.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm just happy to have lots of excuses to show clips from Mad Men.  ;)

And here is an outtake of my staff photo.  I'm surrounded by some of my favorite things (Van Gogh paintings, photos of the Ireland and the UK, Anne Frank, Audrey Hepburn), and I look terrified probably of all those presentations I have to do this week.

Why are you thankful for your job?