Opportunity of a lifetime
I have been trying not to discuss my current situation too much because if it works out, it will be too good to be true. I deeply believe in jinxing yourself by talking things up too much. However, I think writing about it, sending these thoughts out into the universe, to the unknown ears ( well eyes in this case) of whoever should read this...I don't think this will jinx me right? I have a tendency to map out how I think my life should go. I guess I'm just a nerd like that, planning everything. But I wouldn't know how else to live. I need to have goals to achieve otherwise you just live for downtime and who wants the highlight of their life be sitting and vegging out in front of the tv, right? Or going out and getting wasted every weekend? I like to have direction. When I was in school, a direction was easy to find. Get good grades and go to a good university. Check. Get good grades and graduate. Check. Then you graduate and you are left standing at not just a crossroad but more like one of those areas in Miami or Atlanta on the interstate where you have so many exits that can take you so many different places. Some of the exits you get off at, you may never be able to find your way back if you find that you are going the wrong way. So finding direction after college can be a bit tricky. Sure, you know you want to utilize your degree you worked so hard to get but the real world doesn't seem to sympathize with this need. " We need/ are looking for someone with more experience" is often the dreaded response ( if you get a response at all, being ignored is just as fun...) of college graduates in search of a job to justify all those years of studying and your build up of student loans that now places you in the "real world" situation of being in debt.
So after two years of trying to find the right direction, you can understand my hesitation to over-think my current situation. I finally got one of my life goals accomplished almost two months ago. I moved to Chicago. And I do love it here. I may still be feeling my way around but the energy and the city life is so intriguing. Even the change of weather is great. Whoever thought that you could look forward to summer. I see why northerners do. Summer up north is beautiful. You can go outside and enjoy yourself instead of sweating to death, like in Florida summers. And there are no hurricanes! Every time I hear about hurricanes in south I am just amazed that, for the first time in my life ever, hurricanes no longer effect my everyday life. No torrential rain, the town isn't closed down, nothing. ( Although we did have a tornado issue during the middle of July and being 14 stories up when there is a tornado coming is kinda scary)
So anyways, I love living in Chicago. My only issue is that I have been starting to get stir crazy. Working at home can do that to you. Yes, it is nice getting up at 9am and going out for a little run until 10, then have some food and shower until 11am when I start some work. And if I don't feel like working, I can always wait until the evening to finish up my few hours a day I must put in ( unless there is a strict deadline of course). But, working from home doesn't allow me to become part of the city hustle and bustle. And I so want to be part of it. I also am only making part time money which pays the bills but it would be nice if I could treat myself every once in a while and not worry that it may cause me to dip into my savings to pay bills eventually. Plus, I quit my last job for a reason. I want to do Interior Design, no just CAD. And especially not CAD that gets red-lined by Jeanette (A.K.A. "Dragon Jeanette" as Nadine likes to call her..I think it suits her). So that is why this opportunity just has to work out. Everything will change if it does. Everything I want in my career will finally start moving forward.
I got a phone call the other day. Wednesday actually. It was from one of the head people from Looney and Associates. Looney and Associates is a firm who's project I have worked on since I started doing CAD for Montague. I still work on their projects with my contract work. When I first came to Chicago, they had said they wouldn't be hiring for the next 6 months ( which to me sounded like they were blowing me off..who says six months? That is like if they said " A hundred years") I really wanted to try to get a position within this firm because:
A. They specialize in Hospitality Interior design ( as in Ritz Carlton, Sheraton, Intercontinental hotels)
B. I am very familiar with their projects ( like I said, I have worked on many)
C. They are in CHICAGO!
So I was a little disappointed when they " blew me off" but I was determined something would work out for me eventually, if I was just patient. So when I got this phone call on Wednesday morning, I was extremely shocked. She told me that she wanted to meet me and we set up an interview for next Thursday. My boss at Montague is really good friends with this associate and so has been talking me up to her for awhile which is so nice of her. When I got off the phone with Looney, I had an e-mail from my boss saying that I was going to get a call for an interview. She told me to just be myself and not be nervous and wished me luck. How great is that? So now everyone from my former/contract job knows about this interview and are crossing their fingers for me. If I were to get this position, everything would be set in motion. I don't even care if I am just working in their CAD department. This company is big and has lots of advancement opportunities and it is in the specialization that I want. If I get this job, I will be so happy. I will have the opportunity to achieve my career goals. I will be able to work toward taking the NCIDQ to become licensed, I will get to work in a big time city firm on amazing projects from all over the world, and I get to work in the Interior Design field! But like I said, I don't want to jinx it. I just hope that they like me. All I can do is be myself and try to stay friendly, professional, and relaxed during the interview. If I don't get it, I will be a little hurt but I will just have to brush myself off and try at it in a different direction. I just hope that this is my break, though. I have been waiting for a break since I got out of school. I just hope this is it...I just hope.
So after two years of trying to find the right direction, you can understand my hesitation to over-think my current situation. I finally got one of my life goals accomplished almost two months ago. I moved to Chicago. And I do love it here. I may still be feeling my way around but the energy and the city life is so intriguing. Even the change of weather is great. Whoever thought that you could look forward to summer. I see why northerners do. Summer up north is beautiful. You can go outside and enjoy yourself instead of sweating to death, like in Florida summers. And there are no hurricanes! Every time I hear about hurricanes in south I am just amazed that, for the first time in my life ever, hurricanes no longer effect my everyday life. No torrential rain, the town isn't closed down, nothing. ( Although we did have a tornado issue during the middle of July and being 14 stories up when there is a tornado coming is kinda scary)
So anyways, I love living in Chicago. My only issue is that I have been starting to get stir crazy. Working at home can do that to you. Yes, it is nice getting up at 9am and going out for a little run until 10, then have some food and shower until 11am when I start some work. And if I don't feel like working, I can always wait until the evening to finish up my few hours a day I must put in ( unless there is a strict deadline of course). But, working from home doesn't allow me to become part of the city hustle and bustle. And I so want to be part of it. I also am only making part time money which pays the bills but it would be nice if I could treat myself every once in a while and not worry that it may cause me to dip into my savings to pay bills eventually. Plus, I quit my last job for a reason. I want to do Interior Design, no just CAD. And especially not CAD that gets red-lined by Jeanette (A.K.A. "Dragon Jeanette" as Nadine likes to call her..I think it suits her). So that is why this opportunity just has to work out. Everything will change if it does. Everything I want in my career will finally start moving forward.
I got a phone call the other day. Wednesday actually. It was from one of the head people from Looney and Associates. Looney and Associates is a firm who's project I have worked on since I started doing CAD for Montague. I still work on their projects with my contract work. When I first came to Chicago, they had said they wouldn't be hiring for the next 6 months ( which to me sounded like they were blowing me off..who says six months? That is like if they said " A hundred years") I really wanted to try to get a position within this firm because:
A. They specialize in Hospitality Interior design ( as in Ritz Carlton, Sheraton, Intercontinental hotels)
B. I am very familiar with their projects ( like I said, I have worked on many)
C. They are in CHICAGO!
So I was a little disappointed when they " blew me off" but I was determined something would work out for me eventually, if I was just patient. So when I got this phone call on Wednesday morning, I was extremely shocked. She told me that she wanted to meet me and we set up an interview for next Thursday. My boss at Montague is really good friends with this associate and so has been talking me up to her for awhile which is so nice of her. When I got off the phone with Looney, I had an e-mail from my boss saying that I was going to get a call for an interview. She told me to just be myself and not be nervous and wished me luck. How great is that? So now everyone from my former/contract job knows about this interview and are crossing their fingers for me. If I were to get this position, everything would be set in motion. I don't even care if I am just working in their CAD department. This company is big and has lots of advancement opportunities and it is in the specialization that I want. If I get this job, I will be so happy. I will have the opportunity to achieve my career goals. I will be able to work toward taking the NCIDQ to become licensed, I will get to work in a big time city firm on amazing projects from all over the world, and I get to work in the Interior Design field! But like I said, I don't want to jinx it. I just hope that they like me. All I can do is be myself and try to stay friendly, professional, and relaxed during the interview. If I don't get it, I will be a little hurt but I will just have to brush myself off and try at it in a different direction. I just hope that this is my break, though. I have been waiting for a break since I got out of school. I just hope this is it...I just hope.