It’s been a while since I’ve written in this blog due to a lot of activity and not much time to write. Perhaps the real reason is a fear that I won’t be able to put thoughts down in the same eloquence here as what comes to me at random times in the course of a typical day. I briefly considered getting a recording app for my phone that lets me talk my thoughts into it as they come, but dismissed the idea because it would be too weird. You know what I mean.
Earlier this week, I had the final draft of a well-rounded 4-paragraph post written in my head while riding standing up on the bus, but alas, by the time I finished class and evening appointments, the post had fled my memory—all I had left was the impression of how stunning it was—the words to flesh it out were long gone. My thoughts were about people and trains and some of the quirky things that come up when these two items are combined. Unfortunately, this post will not be about trains or the other evils of transportation that are so much fun to qualify in writing.
Almost 2 weeks have passed since I’ve posted and I’m still here—in Flagstaff, doing the normal—work and school. I don’t remember much about the previous week; I suppose it was normal because my calendar shows it was full of class, work, and usual meetings, so you can read my previous posts to get a taste of what “normal” means to me.
Thursday was the day I was scheduled to report for jury duty but other people I talked to that had received similar notice had always been canceled so I made plans accordingly, or rather, I did not plan for jury duty. However, when I called the jury hotline Wednesday evening, I was indeed on schedule as the summons had stated. So I went to the courthouse Thursday morning, fully expecting to be released from service because I had a full day of classes. Not so. I was one of seven jurors chosen out a pool of 30 candidates. I sent out emails to all my professors and other people I was scheduled to contact that afternoon cancelling all my appointments, and settled in for a long day in court. It was my first time in a courtroom so it was interesting to observe the mechanics of court in action. I was able to apply newly learned body language tactics (from an audit class presentation) to the witnesses during cross examination which kept me in a semi-entertained state of mind given conflicting stories and different viewpoints. After both sides finished presenting their cases and evidence, we jurors were given a deliberation period to produce a verdict for each of the two charges. It took less than an hour to go over the points of the charges, cases, and evidence, and to reach a verdict.
Friday I left for retreat with the LAA club. We rented a cabin in the Hualapai mountains near Kingman, AZ and stayed there for the night. Since the cabin was pretty high in the mountains, there was lots of snow and we spent a lot of the afternoon sledding. Good times were had by all. Saturday was spent traveling home, unpacking, and napping to make up for an almost sleepless night. I still have homework to do and a group project to finish.
This week is career fair at the business college, so I have been rewriting my resume and applying for jobs again. I already have a paid internship for this summer, so I am focusing on maintaining contact with recruiters and professionals in hopes of securing a full-time position beginning in the summer of 2012. I don’t anticipate trouble finding a full-time position but I want to choose the right firm regarding pleasant coworkers, sound company ethics and culture, making a solid base around which to build a life and career. Like most other things, there is a learning curve to the recruiting process. Perhaps most important is knowing how to put my plans into marketable terms, and to translate future goals with short term objectives. Surrounding myself with professors and others with years of wisdom definitely helps me understand and see things more clearly.
Today, Sunday, I shoveled a few inches of snow off of the driveway, went to church, and went to Wildflower for lunch with a few friends. The afternoon was spent doing accounting homework—restricted stock, stock compensation, dilution of shares—until I was blue in the brain. Since there is snow on the ground, I have been running at the gym on the treadmill; but today I didn’t feel like making a special trip across town for it. With gas at $3.59 a gallon, I think twice before driving anywhere but usually go anyway.
There is still Philosophy, Audit, and Marketing homework to do, a company report to write about the firm I am visiting in New Hampshire during Spring Break, worksheets to prepare for my SI classes this week, and a meeting agenda to draft before Tuesday evening. It doesn’t really bother me that I didn’t get done; I’ll tackle it Monday and finish it when it gets done. Ha, I love tautologies. But I digress.
May bright rays of Spring Sun shine upon your hearts and lives wherever you are. :-)