of last days, teapots, and felines in boxes
A Strange Education: Friday was my last day working at the A. S. I've definitely been enjoying these last few days of not having to wake up at 5:45 in the morning, but all the same, I miss my coworkers. Especially Nikki, Sarah, Dave, Kathy, Maria and the two Jennifers. Those were my peeps, LOL. The seven of them were the people I became closest to while working there this summer. Sarah, from working with her in the Instructor Supervisor's office the first half of my time on the job, sorting exams and such. Nikki, Maria, Dave and Kathy because we had our little square up in front of Instruction there, once I was working out there as one of the Principal's assistants for the latter half of my time there this summer. Jenn and Jenn (haha, amusingly, they're both full time instructors and their desks are right next to each other), because they sat with Maria, Nikki and I at lunch. All of us, man, the banter and the many (many, MANY, haha) inside jokes. That circle of people made every day so much fun.
I can't believe it's over. It's nuts that it's already into August now, and I'm only a couple weeks away from starting up a new semester at Columbia. Having this job made things just fly by this summer. And at the same time, it feels like I've worked there for longer than one summer - in terms of how comfortable I came to feel, that is. Not in a bad way.
I'd always been nervous about how things would go the first time I had a full time job, but this was above and beyond my expectations. I had minor gripes here and there, of course, but 99% of my time and experiences with this job have been nothing but positive. I couldn't have asked for a better work environment - people there are so relaxed and friendly, and both of my bosses were wonderful to me. I feel like I learned so much, both in terms of the skills I picked up, but just generally in terms of learning about myself and what I'm capable of. I feel so much more confident in my ability to do things well, in my ability to be dependable and hard-working overall. I've always had insecurities about things like that (like any of you are surprised, har), and this summer was just like one big opportunity to confront and hurtle over the fears I've had in that respect.
And goodness, did they ever give me the most wonderful send off.
On Tuesday of last week, about an hour before when I normally took my 15 minute morning break, my boss Marie (the Principal, and seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met) and John (the Educational Director) asked for everybody's attention in Instruction, and had me come up in front so they could thank me for helping them out this summer. Marie gave me this really pretty bouquet of fuchsia carnations, and then presented me with what she said she gave to anyone starting a new year of college - a bottle of Vitamin C, hahaha, and a package of chocolate chip cookies. Love. Her. :D And she and Maria had set up one of the tables with a bunch of snacks for me and everybody else to have.
Marie also told me to come talk to her in her office at some point that day, and when I did so, she told me that I had been doing such a good job grading exams in the Careers and the Computers courses, that she and John wanted to do what they could to keep me around in some way, at least. She said that once I get a feel for my classes and how heavy my coursework will be this fall, that I should get in touch with her.
Simply put, I have a guaranteed job as a part-time instructor now. And not just for this fall. This is basically indefinite. Seriously, I can't even explain how fantastic it is to have them offer me this. This solves my worries about finding a job that's compatible with my taking 5 classes this fall. I couldn't possibly ask for a better setup for a job like I'll get with this:
+ I get to work at home!
+ the basic schedule is that you pick up and drop off exams on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
+ I get to set the number of exams I pick up, so if I have a big project one week, or before midterms/finals, I can take less than usual or none at all, if need be
+ I get to work at home!!!!
+ since my mom works there, she said she can do the pick up and drop off of exams for me on Mondays and Wednesdays, since I have classes both days
+ I get to work at home?!!!!1!
Haha, but seriously. I'm so thankful they offered this to me. This will be such a big help to me, not only for this fall, but for the next few years. I could even continue grading part-time while I work full-time at another job, if I wanted to.
So in any case, I'm obviously really happy about that. It's a huge relief and also a huge compliment, all at the same time.
And Nikki, goodness, I adore her. Nikki is probably the person I've gotten closest to there. She's just a really awesome person. And she was such a sweetheart about my last week. She wasn't there Tuesday, even though she helped plan all of that. Wednesday, she sent a card around for everybody to sign and gave it to me, and holy crap, that thing nearly made me cry. She also gave me this beautiful photograph from her collection (she does a lot of photography and painting) that she put in a frame.
I'm not sure exactly where she took it, I'll have to ask her, but I'm betting this was taken at a cemetery. I know she's done some shoots at cemeteries before.
Sarah gave me a going away present, as well, LMAO.
My very own POTC Back To School set. Hahahaha! :D
Nikki and Dave also put together a special going away present - they made copies of some of their Best Of collection of weird/crazy/unbelievably stupid/hilarious letters and/or odd first-page-forms from students. LMAO Two of my favorites:
+ the student who sent in an exam, and on the first page form, after they wrote their name, they wrote: "(i am now marriade)" [Emphasis mine. It's funny and it's sad, all at the same time.]
+ one of the Practical English exams has a short answer question that asks the student to describe their first job; one student apparently felt the need to finish the description of his job in the following manner: "That's all I do. So screw you." [LMAO Oooookay, kiddo.]
+ When an exam asks you to write several sentences about a person you know well, I'm betting your instructor isn't expecting you to write: "Todd, he is my neighbor, he is a flaming homo." This same student later described Mr. Flaming Todd as someone who apparently likes to play the, and I quote, "tromboner". Bahahaha!
You can't make some of this shit up. Kind of like the fact that on Friday, in the last bundle of exams I graded, I happened to grade the exam of one Matthew Perry. Poor guy apparently took that Studio 60 cancellation pretty hard. ;D
Haha, anyway, so ends my first full time job. :)
++++
I though y'all might get a kick out of this:
Chester says, "O hai, El Jay! I has a box!"
Okay, seriously? That is my nearly 20-pound cat, voluntarily (dare I say excitedly) stuffed inside a shipping box whose opening is roughly the same size as a standard sheet of paper. That box is meant to hold up to two pounds. But as soon as it was open and on the floor, in he went! LMAO
Head support? ROTFLMAO
Oh Chester, you kill me.
So anyway, I finally used the $50 gift certificate that Lisa gave me for my birthday. My goodies arrived today, hehehe. I got a 2-cup teapot, a cannister of loose leaf Blackberry Sage tea, a cannister of loose leaf Pomegranate Green tea, and a sampler tin of the Honey Ginseng Green tea bags.
I also ordered (and received today) some more of that fantastic loose leaf Jasmine Churshi Estate Green tea from the Teavana website. So I am all stocked up with lots of yummy new tea, and a cute little teapot that has a removable infuser and a press to stop the tea from brewing without having to worry about removing the infuser right away.
I, of course, celebrated by making tea. :D
And to finish the entry, a shirt I came across recently while perusing Old Navy's website that I just HAD to get:
Montreal, represent! Hahaha. :D
I hope you're all doing well. Much love!
I can't believe it's over. It's nuts that it's already into August now, and I'm only a couple weeks away from starting up a new semester at Columbia. Having this job made things just fly by this summer. And at the same time, it feels like I've worked there for longer than one summer - in terms of how comfortable I came to feel, that is. Not in a bad way.
I'd always been nervous about how things would go the first time I had a full time job, but this was above and beyond my expectations. I had minor gripes here and there, of course, but 99% of my time and experiences with this job have been nothing but positive. I couldn't have asked for a better work environment - people there are so relaxed and friendly, and both of my bosses were wonderful to me. I feel like I learned so much, both in terms of the skills I picked up, but just generally in terms of learning about myself and what I'm capable of. I feel so much more confident in my ability to do things well, in my ability to be dependable and hard-working overall. I've always had insecurities about things like that (like any of you are surprised, har), and this summer was just like one big opportunity to confront and hurtle over the fears I've had in that respect.
And goodness, did they ever give me the most wonderful send off.
On Tuesday of last week, about an hour before when I normally took my 15 minute morning break, my boss Marie (the Principal, and seriously one of the nicest people I've ever met) and John (the Educational Director) asked for everybody's attention in Instruction, and had me come up in front so they could thank me for helping them out this summer. Marie gave me this really pretty bouquet of fuchsia carnations, and then presented me with what she said she gave to anyone starting a new year of college - a bottle of Vitamin C, hahaha, and a package of chocolate chip cookies. Love. Her. :D And she and Maria had set up one of the tables with a bunch of snacks for me and everybody else to have.
Marie also told me to come talk to her in her office at some point that day, and when I did so, she told me that I had been doing such a good job grading exams in the Careers and the Computers courses, that she and John wanted to do what they could to keep me around in some way, at least. She said that once I get a feel for my classes and how heavy my coursework will be this fall, that I should get in touch with her.
Simply put, I have a guaranteed job as a part-time instructor now. And not just for this fall. This is basically indefinite. Seriously, I can't even explain how fantastic it is to have them offer me this. This solves my worries about finding a job that's compatible with my taking 5 classes this fall. I couldn't possibly ask for a better setup for a job like I'll get with this:
+ I get to work at home!
+ the basic schedule is that you pick up and drop off exams on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
+ I get to set the number of exams I pick up, so if I have a big project one week, or before midterms/finals, I can take less than usual or none at all, if need be
+ I get to work at home!!!!
+ since my mom works there, she said she can do the pick up and drop off of exams for me on Mondays and Wednesdays, since I have classes both days
+ I get to work at home?!!!!1!
Haha, but seriously. I'm so thankful they offered this to me. This will be such a big help to me, not only for this fall, but for the next few years. I could even continue grading part-time while I work full-time at another job, if I wanted to.
So in any case, I'm obviously really happy about that. It's a huge relief and also a huge compliment, all at the same time.
And Nikki, goodness, I adore her. Nikki is probably the person I've gotten closest to there. She's just a really awesome person. And she was such a sweetheart about my last week. She wasn't there Tuesday, even though she helped plan all of that. Wednesday, she sent a card around for everybody to sign and gave it to me, and holy crap, that thing nearly made me cry. She also gave me this beautiful photograph from her collection (she does a lot of photography and painting) that she put in a frame.
I'm not sure exactly where she took it, I'll have to ask her, but I'm betting this was taken at a cemetery. I know she's done some shoots at cemeteries before.
Sarah gave me a going away present, as well, LMAO.
My very own POTC Back To School set. Hahahaha! :D
Nikki and Dave also put together a special going away present - they made copies of some of their Best Of collection of weird/crazy/unbelievably stupid/hilarious letters and/or odd first-page-forms from students. LMAO Two of my favorites:
+ the student who sent in an exam, and on the first page form, after they wrote their name, they wrote: "(i am now marriade)" [Emphasis mine. It's funny and it's sad, all at the same time.]
+ one of the Practical English exams has a short answer question that asks the student to describe their first job; one student apparently felt the need to finish the description of his job in the following manner: "That's all I do. So screw you." [LMAO Oooookay, kiddo.]
+ When an exam asks you to write several sentences about a person you know well, I'm betting your instructor isn't expecting you to write: "Todd, he is my neighbor, he is a flaming homo." This same student later described Mr. Flaming Todd as someone who apparently likes to play the, and I quote, "tromboner". Bahahaha!
You can't make some of this shit up. Kind of like the fact that on Friday, in the last bundle of exams I graded, I happened to grade the exam of one Matthew Perry. Poor guy apparently took that Studio 60 cancellation pretty hard. ;D
Haha, anyway, so ends my first full time job. :)
++++
I though y'all might get a kick out of this:
Chester says, "O hai, El Jay! I has a box!"
Okay, seriously? That is my nearly 20-pound cat, voluntarily (dare I say excitedly) stuffed inside a shipping box whose opening is roughly the same size as a standard sheet of paper. That box is meant to hold up to two pounds. But as soon as it was open and on the floor, in he went! LMAO
Head support? ROTFLMAO
Oh Chester, you kill me.
So anyway, I finally used the $50 gift certificate that Lisa gave me for my birthday. My goodies arrived today, hehehe. I got a 2-cup teapot, a cannister of loose leaf Blackberry Sage tea, a cannister of loose leaf Pomegranate Green tea, and a sampler tin of the Honey Ginseng Green tea bags.
I also ordered (and received today) some more of that fantastic loose leaf Jasmine Churshi Estate Green tea from the Teavana website. So I am all stocked up with lots of yummy new tea, and a cute little teapot that has a removable infuser and a press to stop the tea from brewing without having to worry about removing the infuser right away.
I, of course, celebrated by making tea. :D
And to finish the entry, a shirt I came across recently while perusing Old Navy's website that I just HAD to get:
Montreal, represent! Hahaha. :D
I hope you're all doing well. Much love!