Summer in a few hundred words....
Okay, so I haven't updated this in like forever...mostly cuz I was busy as hell during the summer. But anyway, here goes.
I spent most of the summer (from the 2nd week of May to the first friday in September) working for the Government of Canada in their building at Scarborough Town Centre. I was a call centre customer service representative for things like Canada Pension and Old Age Security. The job itself paid enough for me to be able to pay for my tuition and textbooks this year while still giving me a fair amount left in my bank account for any emergencies.
Now that the University academic year has started again, I've found myself with a reduced course load (still considered full-time, but short of a full load) that gives me Mondays and Wednesdays off. Well, not for long since I'm going to start working (thanks to Dan, you rock!) those two days to bring in some more money and hopefully get myself either a palm or a laptop (not sure yet exactly what my mobile needs are yet, that will hopefully change once I get completely back into student-mode). And aside from that, the plan is to avoid getting kicked out of uni for a second straight year of low marks.
Interestingly enough, I found myself actually disappointed to be leaving the job and going back to school. This shocked me a bit and lead to a (somewhat) sleepless night of introspection, until I came up with what I figure to be the reason.
Working in a call centre isn't a job that everyone will love (in fact, most people would absolutely hate it). There are people that will yell at you over the phone for essentially no reason whatsoever. But on the flip side of the coin, there are people who will be so grateful that you're helping them that they'll shower compliments on you. Now the latter are much MUCH rarer than the former, but they can literally make your week if you even only get just one of them.
I remember a call I had once - 94 year old woman who hadn't been renewed for her GIS payments because she hadn't filled out an income tax return and hadn't received our renewal applications because she'd moved without informing us. The call started with her angry as hell and using every swear word I've heard of (and some I hadn't, which was surprising coming from a 94 year old). 62 minutes later, she was literally crying from relief once I'd calmed her down and explained the situation to her, counselling her that there was an easy way to deal with the situation.
I don't know what it is (perhaps 19 years of living with Indian parents?) but I've developed a very high threshold for verbal abuse - in fact the first comment on my performance evaluation was "takes abuse exceptionally well".
I don't know what it is - but I loved that job and actually felt that I was good at it, that I was making a small difference and bringing people some small comfort. I've previously thought I was good at various things but have come to realize that I'm actually pretty bad at them (student, son, exec member, friend and boyfriend are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head).
So, I dunno. I guess going from something I was doing so well at back to a position where I'm trying to salvage something else - not a very fun experience. I mean, I can easily blame my atrocious first year on any number of things. Indeed, if October had never happened I possibly, even probably wouldn't be on probation right now, but I'm not going to kill myself thinking about it. A lot of bad things that I had no control over happened that month. Life threw me a curve and I missed it completely on the swing.
So, now I'm in the high pressure position of having to do well in all my courses. Okay, I'll give it my best shot and see how things go from there. Hopefully my first year will actually turn out to be something that I can turn into a positive, being able to understand it if my children go through similar times. If I do well this year, I might even volunteer to help counsel first-year students in the summer, who knows.
Anyway, I've taken a long enough break, time to go back to work! Look forward to a post from me in another month and a half ;)
I spent most of the summer (from the 2nd week of May to the first friday in September) working for the Government of Canada in their building at Scarborough Town Centre. I was a call centre customer service representative for things like Canada Pension and Old Age Security. The job itself paid enough for me to be able to pay for my tuition and textbooks this year while still giving me a fair amount left in my bank account for any emergencies.
Now that the University academic year has started again, I've found myself with a reduced course load (still considered full-time, but short of a full load) that gives me Mondays and Wednesdays off. Well, not for long since I'm going to start working (thanks to Dan, you rock!) those two days to bring in some more money and hopefully get myself either a palm or a laptop (not sure yet exactly what my mobile needs are yet, that will hopefully change once I get completely back into student-mode). And aside from that, the plan is to avoid getting kicked out of uni for a second straight year of low marks.
Interestingly enough, I found myself actually disappointed to be leaving the job and going back to school. This shocked me a bit and lead to a (somewhat) sleepless night of introspection, until I came up with what I figure to be the reason.
Working in a call centre isn't a job that everyone will love (in fact, most people would absolutely hate it). There are people that will yell at you over the phone for essentially no reason whatsoever. But on the flip side of the coin, there are people who will be so grateful that you're helping them that they'll shower compliments on you. Now the latter are much MUCH rarer than the former, but they can literally make your week if you even only get just one of them.
I remember a call I had once - 94 year old woman who hadn't been renewed for her GIS payments because she hadn't filled out an income tax return and hadn't received our renewal applications because she'd moved without informing us. The call started with her angry as hell and using every swear word I've heard of (and some I hadn't, which was surprising coming from a 94 year old). 62 minutes later, she was literally crying from relief once I'd calmed her down and explained the situation to her, counselling her that there was an easy way to deal with the situation.
I don't know what it is (perhaps 19 years of living with Indian parents?) but I've developed a very high threshold for verbal abuse - in fact the first comment on my performance evaluation was "takes abuse exceptionally well".
I don't know what it is - but I loved that job and actually felt that I was good at it, that I was making a small difference and bringing people some small comfort. I've previously thought I was good at various things but have come to realize that I'm actually pretty bad at them (student, son, exec member, friend and boyfriend are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head).
So, I dunno. I guess going from something I was doing so well at back to a position where I'm trying to salvage something else - not a very fun experience. I mean, I can easily blame my atrocious first year on any number of things. Indeed, if October had never happened I possibly, even probably wouldn't be on probation right now, but I'm not going to kill myself thinking about it. A lot of bad things that I had no control over happened that month. Life threw me a curve and I missed it completely on the swing.
So, now I'm in the high pressure position of having to do well in all my courses. Okay, I'll give it my best shot and see how things go from there. Hopefully my first year will actually turn out to be something that I can turn into a positive, being able to understand it if my children go through similar times. If I do well this year, I might even volunteer to help counsel first-year students in the summer, who knows.
Anyway, I've taken a long enough break, time to go back to work! Look forward to a post from me in another month and a half ;)