December 27th, the start of holiday halftime.
I've celebrated good cheer, overindulged, laughed too hard and over slept for almost four days straight, starting with the Christmas Eve (Eve) kickoff with friends, creeping into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family, and even yesterday, while everyone else started their respite from the celebrations, I was celebrating my parent's anniversary.
What do I have to show for it? A few more inches around the waistline, lots of awesome swag (thanks family and friends), and a severe cold. But I finally reached the break in my break, the sandwich of productivity and genuine rest between the dizzying rush of Christmas and anticipated New Year's Eve blowout.
One year doesn't seem like a long enough moratorium on tamales and red and green cookies from where I'm standing, but I know I'll be duped into excitement and the childlike giddiness come November 2012, when I cross the Holiday Event Horizon and get sucked into the Black Hole of Joy for another grueling December.
Happy Holidays, and rest up for the 31st!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Internship Readiness
Someone who is internship ready is someone who makes themselves and the program look good by demonstrating a firm understanding of the task and expectations presented to them at their internship. This person can not only handle any technical assignment doled out to them, but they also show strength of character by not only receiving feedback well, but actively seeking it out. Earnest communication with colleagues and an open attitude will make it easy for this person to earn the respect and admiration of their peers, and get the attention of their managers.
I plan to demonstrate these qualities during Module 3 by always extending a hand to a colleague that needs some help, and by looking for chances to jump in and help on my own. I will continue to take and act on feedback, and will continue giving it for the benefit of my peers.
The one change I plan to make this module in regards to my energy and attitude is showing more awareness in regards to how my tone and speech is taken by others. The same humor that I've used to make close friends with my colleagues and to stand out in the program runs the risk of offending and upsetting someone, and I'm learning how to shift gears around people who are sensitive to that sort of thing.
I plan to demonstrate these qualities during Module 3 by always extending a hand to a colleague that needs some help, and by looking for chances to jump in and help on my own. I will continue to take and act on feedback, and will continue giving it for the benefit of my peers.
The one change I plan to make this module in regards to my energy and attitude is showing more awareness in regards to how my tone and speech is taken by others. The same humor that I've used to make close friends with my colleagues and to stand out in the program runs the risk of offending and upsetting someone, and I'm learning how to shift gears around people who are sensitive to that sort of thing.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Safeway? More like Unsafeway.
My first and only serious, long term job was that of a gas station attendant for Safeway. Everyday was a trial, from dealing with malfunctioning gas pumps and computers to being the focal point of rage of countless rude customers. Through the years I picked up a few habits and tricks that made the job a little more bearable, but never what I could call enjoyable.
My primary responsibilities were taking the customers money and setting it on their pump, but when I was alone, which was often, my workload expanded to everything you could think of. If someone spilled a gallon of gas at 10:30 at night while there was a hefty line of customers, I'd have a half dozen pair of eyes glaring at me, waiting, while I made sure we didn't all die and cleaned up the gas.
The upside of working alone and unsupervised in a sound proof box was my freedom to plug in a music player to the built in computer speakers, and freedom to yell obscenities at the top of my lungs when there were no customers at the window. I'm sure I looked quite insane from the outside looking in, and maybe I was, but the chance to let some steam off without letting it build up allowed me to continue working without letting it out on a customer.
During my time at Safeway I feel I developed some extreme patience when dealing with people, especially unreasonable people. I can definitely see patience being a useful tool to have in the IT field, and I'll certainly use it in my internship. The most important lesson I learned from working there was that I deserved better and that no one should settle for a job where you're undervalued.
My primary responsibilities were taking the customers money and setting it on their pump, but when I was alone, which was often, my workload expanded to everything you could think of. If someone spilled a gallon of gas at 10:30 at night while there was a hefty line of customers, I'd have a half dozen pair of eyes glaring at me, waiting, while I made sure we didn't all die and cleaned up the gas.
The upside of working alone and unsupervised in a sound proof box was my freedom to plug in a music player to the built in computer speakers, and freedom to yell obscenities at the top of my lungs when there were no customers at the window. I'm sure I looked quite insane from the outside looking in, and maybe I was, but the chance to let some steam off without letting it build up allowed me to continue working without letting it out on a customer.
During my time at Safeway I feel I developed some extreme patience when dealing with people, especially unreasonable people. I can definitely see patience being a useful tool to have in the IT field, and I'll certainly use it in my internship. The most important lesson I learned from working there was that I deserved better and that no one should settle for a job where you're undervalued.
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