Saturday, March 28, 2009

ACPA

I'm at ACPA and in the middle of job searching. I had four interviews today. I have a few more scheduled for the rest of placement. I've also dropped off four more resumes today. So overall, it's going alright. At least I'm finally focusing on job searching.

Everyone keeps asking me how the interviews have been going and I just don't know what to say. I have a really hard time judging how they go. I remember last time around, there were some interviews that I thought went really well and then I never heard from those institutions. So I'd rather not say anything this time. People also keep asking me what my top choices are - again, something I don't want to think about. I don't want to get too attached to a school, then not get an interview and be heart broken. There is one school that I'm really really interested in and I loved our interview this morning, but if I said that out loud it'd make it more real and then what if they don't invite me on campus? No, it's better to try and leave my options open, not get attached and then fall in love with schools ONLY IF they offer me an on-campus interview. I even got a CD from the school I liked with more information about them - I want to look at it really badly but I'm not going to until I hear from them again. I just couldn't handle it....

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Benefit Concert & ACPA

I apologize for not having posted in a while.

The Benefit Concert is over. After a few days of floating in seventh heaven, it's time to get back to reality. But I do want to gloat for a tiny little bit...hehe. We raised over $2,000 for Invisible Children, collected about 450 books and celebrated our success with over 150 guests at the Benefit Concert. The concert went relatively smoothly - a few frustrating moments, a few last-minute issues but we were able to handle everything well and nobody noticed. My volunteers were amazing. The a-cappella group was awesome and band sounded fabulous. I've had so many students come up to me and tell me that they now understand why I love this band and their music so much. Makes me want to say, "Told you so." Haha. All in all, a total success! I finally feel like I left that legacy I wanted to leave, had that final awesome event that now allows me to leave - knowing that I did what I came here to do.

We're not done with Invisible Children though. We found out about their national event - The Rescue - and decided to try and get a group of students to go to Cincinnati and participate. You should check it out at therescue.invisiblechildren.com. More info about this initiative coming soon.

So job searching....ahhh, the pain of my existence right now.

I had a phone interview this week. I hate phone interviews. I feel like my accent comes out more, then I become self-conscious and then I stop thinking about the question and start thinking about my accent. I make faces at myself because I think about what I just said and realize it sounded stupid; and then that throws me off even more. Argh!

I have six interviews lined up for ACPA. I haven't really had time to do any research on the institutions yet. I need to do that tonight. It's going to be a LONG night.

Okay, I should run. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Job Search and Concert Update

Countdown: 9 days until ACPA, 3 days until the Invisible Children Benefits Concert

I have a killer headache right now. I took a nap, hoping that it'll get better. It has not. :(

I haven't slept much in the past few days. Between getting ready for the concert and job searching, there just hasn't been much time for sleep. But things are slowly falling into place. My to do list for the concert is still considerable, but with some luck I may actually be able to get everything done in time. I was putting up posters with my co-chair today and a student, who saw us, said she was excited for the concert and would be coming. Yay! It seems that the word has gotten out there.

Things are also slowly falling into place on the job search front. I now have three interviews set up for ACPA. I also have one phone interview set up.

All those interviews are for Hall Director-type positions. I've been applying for a mix between coordinator/Assistant Director-type positions and Hall Director jobs. I wouldn't mind being a Hall Director again - as long as it's in a location I really like - but I'd also like to at least get a try at some coordinator/Assistant Director position interviews...just to see if it's even a possibility. I haven't applied to many of those positions yet, so maybe that's why, but it's still making me feel a bit uneasy that I haven't heard anything. It's just making me question whether or not I'm ready/qualified for these type of positions. My colleagues and supervisors all tell me that I am and that I should try to become a coordinator or Assistant Director. So why am I not getting interviews for those positions?

But hey, at least I have some interviews set up now. I did submit a couple more applications this morning and have a few more jobs selected that I will apply for later this week....whenever I find time to do that.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Frustration

Hey there,

Spring Break is over and I can't say that I'm upset about it. I loved being in Florida - I really love the beach and sun...I need to move south!!! But being with students - even when it is in a "fun" setting is just exhausting. You have to be "on" 24 hours a day...and I was not in the mood for that. I had the job search to worry about, the upcoming Invisible Children Concert that's giving me a headache (more about that later), other work-related issues, personal stuff; I just needed a few moments each day to myself. But getting those was basically impossible.

One day, I thought I'd be really smart and I sent everyone away for dinner while I stayed in to get some work done. I had barely turned on my computer, when my phone rang. Three of students didn't like the restaurant everyone else picked, had left and were now stranded somewhere on the side of the road. I had to go pick them up, drive them to Burger King, wait until they got their food. Then they wanted to stop at Baskin Robbins for ice cream. By the time we got back, the rest of the group was also on their way back. And once again I didn't get any work done.

I finally managed to escape the following day. We went to the beach. When we got out of the van, I told everyone to meet back up at 7:30 pm (after dinner). We walked down to the beach together. When they started pulling out their beach towels, I said needed to make a few phone calls and would just walk down the beach. I walked and walked until I couldn't see them anymore. Finally free!!! I wondered along the beach. I went swimming. I relaxed. I listened to the sounds of nature. I felt like a human being again!
I even decided to skip dinner just to have a few more minutes at the beach. Who needs food when you have a beach and there's no students around?!?

I did really enjoy working on the construction site. Maybe, in case this job search doesn't work out, I have a future as a construction worker. LoL. I'm afraid they don't give visas for that.
But I do greatly enjoy working with my hands once in a while. It's a nice change of pace from sitting in the office.

Needless to say, the job search didn't go well this week. I tried to sneak away a couple times in the evening to write some more cover letters and apply for jobs. I managed to get a few more applications out but not many. I'm starting to panic a little. ACPA is only two weeks away (not even) and so far, I only have one interview set up. AHHHH!!! I know I just sent out some applications Monday and I realize that people were at NASPA and The Placement Exchange, but shouldn't they have gotten back to me by now? What if nobody's interested in hiring me?

Okay, can't panic. I don't have time for that right now. I don't have time for anything right now really. I got back and I haven't been feeling well since. I fell asleep on my couch last night and didn't wake up until this morning at 9 am. I still wasn't feeling much better and after attempting to do work for a while, I gave up and took another nap, which lasted basically all day. I spent the evening putting up banners for the concert - there was a lot of cursing involved. I usually don't curse but this was an exception...seriously...either the trees were planted too far apart, didn't have branches on the bottom or just weren't in a good location. I brought my piano stool with me - yes, I love running around with a piano stool; that doesn't make me look like an idiot at all - and had one of my reliable and amazing RAs with me, who had offered to help me - even though this project isn't part of her responsibility. I can't even count the number of times I almost fell off the stool. I almost hit myself in the face with a knife. I did hit myself in the chest with the tape (fortunately it was just the tape and not the knife). I lost all feeling in my toes and fingers.

This concert was supposed to be fun. Lately it's become a source for quite a lot of frustration. I had a staff member working with me but she's been so stressed over everything lately that she hasn't been much help. I feel like I'm alone with this. I have some great staff members who've been helping out (one helped me paint banners for hours before break; the other one volunteered to help get donations and helped me put up all those sheets tonight...and promised to come along tomorrow and Tuesday to put up more sheets), but in the end all the responsibility falls on me. And if this wasn't enough stress, the band I'm working with has also been giving me a headache lately. They have a new production manager and I can't say that I'm a fan. Today, I noticed that he had changed the picture for the Facebook event for our concert. I had just put up one of the Invisible Children Benefit Concert posters. He changed it to a picture with just the band on it. Argh! This is wrong in so many ways...
1) This is an Invisible Children Benefit Concert. It's about Invisible Children, not about the band.
2) We have one of our a cappella groups performing. They're performing for free while I still have to pay the band. So they definitely deserve some recognition and publicity!
3) Hardly anyone on our campus knows the band. So it's not like they'd draw a large audience. Students here care about Invisible Children, so that'll draw an audience. Students love our a cappella group - that'll draw an audience. A no-name band will not.
And okay, this may be a childish reason but 4) This is my event. I've been working on this for months. He had no right to go in and change my picture. If he didn't like it, he could have sent me a message and asked me to change it. That would have been the polite thing to do. He's not managing Coldplay. This band still needs their fans, especially ones like me who are willing to organize events for them.

Maybe it's just the stress but I'm seriously upset. I'm seriously tempted to say, "Forget about it" and just cancel the concert. This is not worth it!!!

Okay, enough venting. I have tons of work to do. It's 4:30 am and there's no chance I'll get any sleep tonight. What a great way to start the week....

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Service vs. Activism

I've done a lot of service lately - especially because of my living learning community theme...well and obviously I'm on a service trip right now (that I organized...what was I thinking?!?). But I'm honestly not sure if doing service is "the right thing." It feels like it's just a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Wouldn't it be more beneficial if we became activitist, get politically engaged and try to problems in our country that lead to us needing to do service? If we could change political systems and our society so that nobody would live in poverty, we wouldn't have to do service (at least not locally). But then again, if we count on/wait for those long-term solutions, what about all the people living in poverty right now?!? I guess it's one of those situations where you need to find a good balance between the two.
Just a thought....

Monday, March 9, 2009

Spring Break

Hello everyone,

We now have Spring Break but "overachiever me" is not relaxing at home or at least focusing on job searching; no, I had to organize this alternative spring break trip for my residents. We're in Fort Walton Beach, FL and it's been a good trip but somehow I'm having a hard time really getting into it. I'm fine when I'm on the construction site (today was our first day there) and am busy doing things - but when we're hanging out in the evenings (well, really just yesterday and today), I am grumpy - wishing I was either with friends or alone doing something productive.

I'm starting to freak out a little about job searching. I don't have a single interview set up yet. I've only applied for three positions so far. What am I thinking??? I really need to get on the ball with this but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to accomplish this week. Take today as an example: We were at the construction site, we got back, a couple of us went for a run, then I took a shower and only now have I turned on my laptop to do some work. And of course there's e-mails to check and respond to and all these other things I would much rather do. I also have a headache and am just tired. Not good!

The students I'm on the trip with are really nice but there isn't anyone that I would usually hang out with. So whenever I have a conversation, they're either very student-hall director focused or are job-related (with the two grads that are here). Nobody to get excited with me about news regarding my favorite band; nobody to talk to about the crazy things I've done this semester or those that are coming up.

I'm also spending most of my time thinking about the Invisible Children Benefits Concert we're hosting next week. There's so much work that still needs to get done and me not being in Oxford right now is just not convenient. We need more donations, need to contact newspapers and radio stations (in hope that one of them will cover this event, and get promotional materials out. I just really hope this event turns out alright.

Wow, I almost fell asleep just now. I could feel my eyes closing and had to force myself to open them again. This is not good! Maybe I'll run to the store really quickly, take care of all the shopping and grab some food on the way - and then really focus on job searching later this evening.

Wish me luck!!!

PS: I think I should be freaking out...and part of me is...but overall, I'm really not. I'm feeling pretty apathetic toward this whole job search drama, which probably isn't a good attitude to have. What do you think?

Monday, March 2, 2009

Ups and downs...

It's been an interesting few days - yes, since Thursday when I last rambled on about my life on this blog. It feels like it's been much longer than a few days.

The resident situations continued to keep me on my feet. My supervisor must be sick of all the e-mails she's been getting from me; I've tried to label them clearly as there's several situations going on at the same time; each just as concerning and frustrating and impossible to resolve easily.

I should be preparing for our alternative spring break trip to Florida with Habitat for Humanity. We're leaving in 5 days. I have the vans reserved - I just need to get all the drivers to sign the form for driving. I have most of the forms from our residents - of course not all of them though. I don't know yet what types of reflection activities we'll be doing; I'm sure I can wing those though...or come up with something once I get to Florida.
There should be 20 of us going. We've had a lot of problems with people dropping out; surprisingly enough a lot of my RAs did. Initially there were 9 of us who considered going. Now there's 1 RA, my graduate assistant and me. What happened, you ask. Needing to apply for summer internships and grad school, family problems, stress. All things I understand and emphasize with. But really?
I told myself last year that the only way I would do another alternative spring break trip was if I had more staff members going. Not that it's so much work, but it's nice to have a couple different staff members there who can facilitate reflection activities, organize some activities to do for residents when we're not at the construction site, etc. Even for things like communication between the different vans it's helpful to have a few more staff members.
I really didn't think it'd be a problem this year. I was so excited about going with all these staff members. Of course, I ran into problems - why would things ever be easy - this time it was because of getting funding for the staff members. We got funding for the students but not the staff. I fought for them; I tried to make it all work out. All for nothing!
Now I'm stuck 5 days before we're leaving and I don't even know if we can fill all the spots.

Maybe the lesson I should learn from this is that alternative spring break trips are always a lot of hassle and that I shouldn't try to organize one again. Hmmm, please remind me about that next year when I start thinking about Spring Break!!! You know, I could be visiting friends - I could be going to concerts - I could be sleeping in late and relaxing. But oh no, I always have to be such an overachiever. Haha.


Okay, enough whining about Spring Break. I called this entry "ups and downs" and so far I've only been talking about the "downs." I promise there'll be at least one "up," but before we get there, here's one more thing I have to share....

I got sick this weekend. I could barely get out of bed, had the worst headache ever, was coughing and sneezing and I felt like I was radiating heat. Not fun! And of course I couldn't get half the things done that I wanted to accomplish this weekend.

Okay, now to the "ups" (or at least the one "up" I can think of right now):
I finally got around to applying for a few jobs. I applied for three - two through the ACPA Placement site and one that a friend had forwarded me. Today, I've been checking my e-mail pathetically until I realized that there was no way any schools would be able to process my application so quickly and get back to me the day after I submitted it.

I really should be applying for a couple more schools, but hey, at least I started the process, right?