(no subject)
I meant to write about this the other day when it happened, but as I tend to, I forgot about it until now.
It was one of those days when I actually get to leave the front of the store because there was another cashier working, and I was filling the open spots on the candy steps with the appropriate items. When I was in the warehouse I was talking to my manager Diane about how my brain was probably going to explode because I'm currently in the process of maintaining/learning 4 different languages. She and I were heading back onto the floor at the same time and still talking, and it just so happens that the man she was helping in windows was a Portuguese language teacher from Rhode Island and he heard our conversation and began talking to me very passionately about it.
I told him about my goal to become fluent in all of the Romance languages, and he called his wife over so she could "meet the aspiring polyglot." He told me I should learn Latin first, so he was very impressed by the fact that I'm already fluent in Italian... plus that I studied French for 5 years, Portuguese for 1 year and that I can read and understand simple Spanish without having really studied it before. He also really liked that I was exposed to the different accents and vocabulary of the different Portuguese speaking areas of the world in just 2 semesters. What can I say, UMass is just good like that.
I loved how excited he got over my aspirations and he actually gave me a lot of really good advice in the about 5 minutes that I got to speak to him before he had to go back to shopping with his wife. He told me some tricks on how to learn them more easily and fully, and how I should focus on the differences between them and false cognates and the like so I don't get confused and mix the languages together. He also told me that I should pretty much relocate to Washington DC (which I honestly wouldn't mind anyway, seeing as how the publication/media empire I wish to eventually work for, National Geographic, is based there), or if I couldn't do that right away, to begin contacting local government representatives and all sorts of companies with overseas divisions and sell my translation services to them. He also suggested being a United Nations interpreter, but I think I need to be a little more solid in my skills before that would ever be possible.
I was so happy about all of this, but one look from my store manager was able to temporarily sour the moment. When I told Gale about it she seemed okay with all of it until it slipped out that he told me how I should go about using my language skills for an eventual career. As soon as the prospect of me leaving my job (which most likely wouldn't even be any time soon for Christ's sake, this shit takes time) entered the conversation, however minimally so, the smile vanished from her face and she looked worried, like she was going to have to start looking for a replacement immediately, and very reluctantly.
This worries me. Knowing that I'm a Bachelor-wielding college graduate who is slaving away in retail against my will, shouldn't she be happy that I want to advance my career and actually USE the degree I've spent (and am still paying off) tens of thousands of dollars on? There will always be another high school or college student or graduate who can work a cash register, bag items and fill candy, and someone with a degree shouldn't waste any more time than she has to squandering those skills and qualifications away in the retail world.
It amazes me how deluded the people at my work seem to be over the whole prospect of leaving that place and doing something better with my life. You'd think that people used to working with so many students would be used to the whole process. If they think I'm going to be wasting away forever there with them, they are sadly, sadly mistaken.
It was one of those days when I actually get to leave the front of the store because there was another cashier working, and I was filling the open spots on the candy steps with the appropriate items. When I was in the warehouse I was talking to my manager Diane about how my brain was probably going to explode because I'm currently in the process of maintaining/learning 4 different languages. She and I were heading back onto the floor at the same time and still talking, and it just so happens that the man she was helping in windows was a Portuguese language teacher from Rhode Island and he heard our conversation and began talking to me very passionately about it.
I told him about my goal to become fluent in all of the Romance languages, and he called his wife over so she could "meet the aspiring polyglot." He told me I should learn Latin first, so he was very impressed by the fact that I'm already fluent in Italian... plus that I studied French for 5 years, Portuguese for 1 year and that I can read and understand simple Spanish without having really studied it before. He also really liked that I was exposed to the different accents and vocabulary of the different Portuguese speaking areas of the world in just 2 semesters. What can I say, UMass is just good like that.
I loved how excited he got over my aspirations and he actually gave me a lot of really good advice in the about 5 minutes that I got to speak to him before he had to go back to shopping with his wife. He told me some tricks on how to learn them more easily and fully, and how I should focus on the differences between them and false cognates and the like so I don't get confused and mix the languages together. He also told me that I should pretty much relocate to Washington DC (which I honestly wouldn't mind anyway, seeing as how the publication/media empire I wish to eventually work for, National Geographic, is based there), or if I couldn't do that right away, to begin contacting local government representatives and all sorts of companies with overseas divisions and sell my translation services to them. He also suggested being a United Nations interpreter, but I think I need to be a little more solid in my skills before that would ever be possible.
I was so happy about all of this, but one look from my store manager was able to temporarily sour the moment. When I told Gale about it she seemed okay with all of it until it slipped out that he told me how I should go about using my language skills for an eventual career. As soon as the prospect of me leaving my job (which most likely wouldn't even be any time soon for Christ's sake, this shit takes time) entered the conversation, however minimally so, the smile vanished from her face and she looked worried, like she was going to have to start looking for a replacement immediately, and very reluctantly.
This worries me. Knowing that I'm a Bachelor-wielding college graduate who is slaving away in retail against my will, shouldn't she be happy that I want to advance my career and actually USE the degree I've spent (and am still paying off) tens of thousands of dollars on? There will always be another high school or college student or graduate who can work a cash register, bag items and fill candy, and someone with a degree shouldn't waste any more time than she has to squandering those skills and qualifications away in the retail world.
It amazes me how deluded the people at my work seem to be over the whole prospect of leaving that place and doing something better with my life. You'd think that people used to working with so many students would be used to the whole process. If they think I'm going to be wasting away forever there with them, they are sadly, sadly mistaken.