Later on, we'll conspire, as we dream by the fire,
To face unafraid, the plans that we've made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Where did my vacation go, and how can it be half over already? I shake my head in disbelief and go back to my desk for more plotting and planning. Scholarship deadlines are approaching, each requiring an essay explaining “your career and personal goals and objectives,” as one description states it.
“My career goal is to do […] in [time frame]. I deserve this scholarship because [insert situation here]. By doing […] I have proven that [I am a person of integrity] and [there is no better person to bestow this scholarship on than me].” Such is the template for writing scholarship essays and includes, of course, surrounding this kernel of slush with perfunctory paragraphs restating this in different words over and over again.
There are Microsoft Project charts tacked up on the walls around my desk with objectives and time constraints for the near-future goals. The Andy Warhol poster over my desk is desacralized with post-it notes in hopes that these ill-placed reminders will oblige me to perform random tasks relating to said personal goals and objectives. In less lofty terms it means that I am now a slave to my obligations.
Grades are posted for last semester and I have somehow held on to my straight A average for my now-completed 22 classes and am now officially half way to a bachelors degree (some could say, dryly, that I have earned it long ago), and am almost half way to CPA and MBA status.
Now I’m in the process of deciding which classes to take over summer and next fall to stay on track for eventual graduation at a yet undetermined date. Enrollment is complicated because classes constantly change and critical ones are sometimes not offered during certain semesters. Scheduling can be frustrating as well—just when it looks like classes might be lining up for next September a class will be canceled or full. Having dozens of choices to fill degree requirements helps but also makes finding the best solution more difficult.
The job interview last Friday morning went well, in spite of a long night spent celebrating snow and the completion of a semester and life and friends; it lasted well into the morning hours of Friday and I wasn’t sure how, or even if, I would be able to be presentable by 9 AM. Although I wouldn’t recommend this procedure of interview preparation for anybody, I was accepted to round two of interviews, the group interview and office tour at corporate headquarters, but reluctantly deferred it until summer of 2011. The opening is in Phoenix and is full-time, meaning I’d have to live in Phoenix for the summer and wear a suit every day in and out of 115 degree weather. I decided it was a little too far outside of the carefree Flagstaff Subaru lifestyle I enjoy at present.
I get to see an interesting side of a business college working in the IT department. During the winter break we are cleaning computers every day, going from room to room, office to office and lab to lab wiping and blowing off hundreds of computers. This week we did the first three floors and part of the fourth, so maybe another day or two of cleaning next week.
Plans are to travel to 67867 for the holidays and spend my time at the big house directly across from BH. If you can decode that sentence without Google’s help, well done, I guess. Stop in and see me and the rest of the family. I’m already looking forward to the scooters and bottomless peppernuts. But I must get to work on that academic plan.
Merry Christmas to all!