As yesterday's post clearly shows, I've been rather unhappy lately. Sometimes I wonder why I let my financial and professional situations take over the rest of my moods/emotions/satisfaction with life. I have family I actually get along with really well and, unlike many of my peers, really enjoy spending time with them. My parents and sisters are more than just family, they're my friends. My friends are a fantastic support system, are fun as hell to be around, are there when I need to vent or cry, my roommate/long time friend makes me laugh every single day, and I have an amazing boyfriend I'm head over heels in love with. I have some of the greatest people surrounding me who would do anything for the ones they love. I graduated college with honors and in four years. I've moved out of my mom's house and on my own. I bought my car (from here on out to be referred to as her name, Carly. Don't judge.) shortly after graduating and it's actually relatively new and in really great condition. Granted, my dad had to be a cosigner, but I make all the payments on my own. I'm healthy, my friends and family are healthy. Sometimes, I think I just need a reality check.
Regardless of how irrational or unjustified my frustrations are, they're there. And I'm finally trying to do something about it. I want so much out of life and it's completely up to me to get there.
Job searching: The biggest reason I'm so unhappy is my job. I want a job in my field. I want a job I love and actually look forward to going to every morning. I don't want to feel like my degree was a waste of paper. I want a job closer to home, so I'm not commuting every day (though I'd gladly still commute for a job in my field or that I loved). Instead of just complaining how much I hate my job, I'm trying to find a new one. CareerBuilder and Simply Hired (among others) have been my best friends in the last month. I try to look for jobs every day. At the very least, I search every other day. Unfortunately, not much has been posted lately. I updated my LinkedIn profile and have polishing my resume to make it perfect. I have a few applications out there, all for jobs in my field. There's one in particular I'm really excited for: a social media and PR coordinator position that's literally just a few minutes away from my house.
Writing: In addition to trying to keep up with this blog, I've been trying to do some freewriting a few times a week. I found a list of prompts and spend about 7-15 minutes writing about the topic I choose. Yesterday's prompt is actually proving to be a lot of fun. I think it's going to be the first thing I actually write without a workshop class or my instructor Dave that will go somewhere. I also want to start submitting my fiction piece Beauty is Pain. I started submitting it back in February but dropped it for a while. I've got a list of magazines I want to submit to, so I just need to actually submit. Note to self: submit to those magazines this week and don't forget again like you did three weeks ago.
Volunteering: The volunteer program that I work with starts up again Monday and I couldn't be more excited. The program is called Girls Night Out and it's through the Green Bay YMCA. Every Monday a group of sixth grade girls meets at the Y for two hours. Each day of the week is dedicated to a different middle school. Each week has a different theme that we focus on. The first hour is "learning" and the second hour is a physical activity. As a volunteer, I lead small group discussions with the girls, and can join in on the activity if I wish. The girls learn about things like communication, positive role models, healthy eating habits, and bullying. After the "classroom" portion, we go to the gym for rock climbing, yoga, dodge ball and other gym/recess games. I have so much fun with my girls. It's the one thing that really makes me feel like I'm making a difference to someone, and I feel like I'm at least using my Women's Studies minor.
Freewriting took a backseat today to continue working with yesterday's piece.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
I've decided that since this blog started entirely because of my dissatisfaction with my professional life, I should give some background. So here's some explanation of what has gotten me to this point and what I'm trying to do about it.
I hate my job. That's so harsh, but it is what it is. The company is a great company to be a part of, but I'm not part of the company. Sure, anyone can make the argument that every position is vital to the company's success, no matter how big or small. One could make the argument that I'm a part of the company because I do the exact same work my full-time co-workers do. But I don't work for the company. I work for a staffing agency and have very little job security. I have zero idea when this assignment/position will end, and frankly, neither do my bosses. That's utterly terrifying. And considering said staffing agency assured me it was a temp to hire position and it's not, I have even more reason to be anxious.
My coworkers are great and all the temps get along really well, but the only time we interact is on our half hour lunch break. And that's only if we have our lunches scheduled together, which can't be garaunteed. I talk to people for eight hours straight, but I don't really interact with anyone. Even communication with customers all day long would be fine if it was face to face. I can answer a call, apologize and thank like no other, but do I really communicate? Do I really have solid interactions with anyone? Which leads me to my next point. I'm not making any kind of difference in anyone's life. Sure, I can replace a box of faulty diapers and save some people money, but what am I doing? Half the people I "help" don't even appreciate it. They're selfish, greedy and think they're entitled to the world. So many calls I get are about the pettiest of things. Codes not working for our rewards program, expecting an entire box of diapers to be replaced for one leaky diaper, commericals being played too much, and coupons. For Christ's sake, don't forget the coupons.
My job is easy but it makes me miserable. Taking call after call for eight hours is enough to make one crazy, but taking complaints for eight hours is just unbearable. I get yelled at every day, and 9 times out of 10, it's over next to nothing. Your kid's diaper leaked? Well, did you change it? Someone called a few weeks ago because their kid peed four times in the diaper and it leaked all over. Working in this job makes me understand what it's like to raise a teenager: people don't listen. When I tell people what codes I need from the box, where to find them and what they'll look like and they give me something completely unrelated on the opposite side of the box, I could just scream. When I get interrupted, talked over and blatantly ignored, I could jump through the phone and just strangle them. When people talk for 20 minutes straight about how awful our products are, without me so much as working in a "oh no," and tell me over and over they should just switch brands, I would love nothing more than to shout out, "Fine! Switch brands. Your $30 a week is not going to break our multi-million dollar company. Do whatever you have to do to get me off this phone call."
I make pretty good money, but I did not go to school to work in a call center for diapers. I spent thousands of dollars on a great education, and don't regret one second of it. I am very passionate about writing and literature. I want to write, proofread, edit, update social media, do public relations, any of the above. Answering shitty diaper calls 101 somehow missed my list of classes to take. My degree is going to waste. I spent thousands and thousands of dollars for a pretty piece of paper and that's all I have to show for four years of my life. When I was hired, the staffing agency told me I'd be writing letters, sending e-mails and updating social media. Imagine my surprise when I started my first day and my trainer said "Welcome to our call center." Needless to say, I'm not doing any of those things. I've been there five months and have yet to get trained on e-mail and will more than likely never be working on social media. Not to mention if I do get trained on e-mail, it will just be entering codes into an automated system to create a canned response e-mail. I won't actually be writing e-mails.
Part two: "Solutions to this problem" coming later this weekend.
Freewriting prompt: Write about a man who got stood up on a date.
I hate my job. That's so harsh, but it is what it is. The company is a great company to be a part of, but I'm not part of the company. Sure, anyone can make the argument that every position is vital to the company's success, no matter how big or small. One could make the argument that I'm a part of the company because I do the exact same work my full-time co-workers do. But I don't work for the company. I work for a staffing agency and have very little job security. I have zero idea when this assignment/position will end, and frankly, neither do my bosses. That's utterly terrifying. And considering said staffing agency assured me it was a temp to hire position and it's not, I have even more reason to be anxious.
My coworkers are great and all the temps get along really well, but the only time we interact is on our half hour lunch break. And that's only if we have our lunches scheduled together, which can't be garaunteed. I talk to people for eight hours straight, but I don't really interact with anyone. Even communication with customers all day long would be fine if it was face to face. I can answer a call, apologize and thank like no other, but do I really communicate? Do I really have solid interactions with anyone? Which leads me to my next point. I'm not making any kind of difference in anyone's life. Sure, I can replace a box of faulty diapers and save some people money, but what am I doing? Half the people I "help" don't even appreciate it. They're selfish, greedy and think they're entitled to the world. So many calls I get are about the pettiest of things. Codes not working for our rewards program, expecting an entire box of diapers to be replaced for one leaky diaper, commericals being played too much, and coupons. For Christ's sake, don't forget the coupons.
My job is easy but it makes me miserable. Taking call after call for eight hours is enough to make one crazy, but taking complaints for eight hours is just unbearable. I get yelled at every day, and 9 times out of 10, it's over next to nothing. Your kid's diaper leaked? Well, did you change it? Someone called a few weeks ago because their kid peed four times in the diaper and it leaked all over. Working in this job makes me understand what it's like to raise a teenager: people don't listen. When I tell people what codes I need from the box, where to find them and what they'll look like and they give me something completely unrelated on the opposite side of the box, I could just scream. When I get interrupted, talked over and blatantly ignored, I could jump through the phone and just strangle them. When people talk for 20 minutes straight about how awful our products are, without me so much as working in a "oh no," and tell me over and over they should just switch brands, I would love nothing more than to shout out, "Fine! Switch brands. Your $30 a week is not going to break our multi-million dollar company. Do whatever you have to do to get me off this phone call."
I make pretty good money, but I did not go to school to work in a call center for diapers. I spent thousands of dollars on a great education, and don't regret one second of it. I am very passionate about writing and literature. I want to write, proofread, edit, update social media, do public relations, any of the above. Answering shitty diaper calls 101 somehow missed my list of classes to take. My degree is going to waste. I spent thousands and thousands of dollars for a pretty piece of paper and that's all I have to show for four years of my life. When I was hired, the staffing agency told me I'd be writing letters, sending e-mails and updating social media. Imagine my surprise when I started my first day and my trainer said "Welcome to our call center." Needless to say, I'm not doing any of those things. I've been there five months and have yet to get trained on e-mail and will more than likely never be working on social media. Not to mention if I do get trained on e-mail, it will just be entering codes into an automated system to create a canned response e-mail. I won't actually be writing e-mails.
Part two: "Solutions to this problem" coming later this weekend.
Freewriting prompt: Write about a man who got stood up on a date.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Packers, AFSP Walk and a Suprise Visit
In the last four days, I've had three rather significant events take place: The NFL kick-off game, the third annual American Foundation for Suicide Prevention walk in Brown County and a surprise visit from one of my very close college friends.
Thursday was the NFL opening game of the Green Bay Packers vs. the New Orleans Saints. As the Superbowl champions, Green Bay hosted a massive kick-off party with a free concert. Maroon 5, Kid Rock and Lady Antebellum all performed outside the stadium for thousands of people. Blocks of Oneida street by the stadium were blocked off for days, the population of Green Bay was said to have nearly doubled for a day, and the entire city partied all day. Unfortunately, I was stuck taking diaper calls and missed the majority of the event, but caught the tail end of it before the game started. My dad told me the night before, "Just tell all your callers 'I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I'm in Wisconsin, the home of the Superbowl champions. So as much as I'd love to chat about your kid's ass, I have a Packer party to attend. So call me next week when I'm sober.'" I would have loved nothing more than to have actually said this, but keeping my job sounded just as appealing. Regardless, even though I didn't catch all of the concert, the atmosphere was amazing. There were so many Packer fans, all amped to start a new football season and all decked out in green and gold. The game between the last two superbowl champions was a great way to start off the season. There was hardly a dull moment in the game, and of course, the Packers won 42-34.
Saturday was the third anual Out of the Darkness walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention here in Brown County. The day was a great success, albeit very emotional. The walk has been organized each year by a couple of women who each lost their children around the age of 18. Each year, the event grows larger and larger and more and more families are reaching out to each other. The walk represented 17 different "teams," or people who walkers were representing. As more families come out each walk, new things are introduced to every event. Saturday's event got coffee and tea donations from Starbucks, water donated from Pepsi and plenty of raffle and door prizes. Another part of the event was introducing each team. One representative from each team introduced him/herself, their relation to the deceased, what year they died and how old they were when they passed. It was a terribly emotional few moments, though I'm sure helpful and therapeutic for the families. This year, 347 walkers raised $8,000. Half of the proceeds will be donated to our community and half will go to a national level. Next year, though, the organization is branching off from the AFSP to be able to donate all proceeds at our community level.
Also on Saturday, my friend Sam from Stritch made an impromptu visit to Green Bay. Being two hours away and everyone having very hectic work and personal life schedules, I don't get to see my college friends very often. The last time I had seen her was in April, so we were definitely due for a visit. We only spent two hours together, but we had such a great talk and it really made my already great day. We caught each other up on our lives, how our jobs were going, and the like. We gossiped and talked about writing, as if there's anything else to talk about. We were both part of the writing program at Stritch and magnetically attracted to each other the first week of school. Actually, I think we became friends right away during orientation week. Both of us expressed our frustration with the inability to get jobs in our fields and how badly we just wanted to write, but not knowing where to begin. What to write about, how to write without our instructor Dave, how to write without having our peers to bounce feedback off of in workshops. I shared with her that I had started this blog and started doing freewriting exercises very similar to what we did in our writing classes, and how badly I just want to proofread anything or everything. Proofreading in really what I have a passion for, even more so than writing or reading. I have a knack for it and the eye for detail. We agreed to send each other any pieces of writing that we're working on to have the other person look over it. Finally, I might be getting somewhere with my degree, even if it isn't a paid position.
Freewriting prompt: List 20 things that annoy you. Pick one and write about it.
Thursday was the NFL opening game of the Green Bay Packers vs. the New Orleans Saints. As the Superbowl champions, Green Bay hosted a massive kick-off party with a free concert. Maroon 5, Kid Rock and Lady Antebellum all performed outside the stadium for thousands of people. Blocks of Oneida street by the stadium were blocked off for days, the population of Green Bay was said to have nearly doubled for a day, and the entire city partied all day. Unfortunately, I was stuck taking diaper calls and missed the majority of the event, but caught the tail end of it before the game started. My dad told me the night before, "Just tell all your callers 'I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I'm in Wisconsin, the home of the Superbowl champions. So as much as I'd love to chat about your kid's ass, I have a Packer party to attend. So call me next week when I'm sober.'" I would have loved nothing more than to have actually said this, but keeping my job sounded just as appealing. Regardless, even though I didn't catch all of the concert, the atmosphere was amazing. There were so many Packer fans, all amped to start a new football season and all decked out in green and gold. The game between the last two superbowl champions was a great way to start off the season. There was hardly a dull moment in the game, and of course, the Packers won 42-34.
Saturday was the third anual Out of the Darkness walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention here in Brown County. The day was a great success, albeit very emotional. The walk has been organized each year by a couple of women who each lost their children around the age of 18. Each year, the event grows larger and larger and more and more families are reaching out to each other. The walk represented 17 different "teams," or people who walkers were representing. As more families come out each walk, new things are introduced to every event. Saturday's event got coffee and tea donations from Starbucks, water donated from Pepsi and plenty of raffle and door prizes. Another part of the event was introducing each team. One representative from each team introduced him/herself, their relation to the deceased, what year they died and how old they were when they passed. It was a terribly emotional few moments, though I'm sure helpful and therapeutic for the families. This year, 347 walkers raised $8,000. Half of the proceeds will be donated to our community and half will go to a national level. Next year, though, the organization is branching off from the AFSP to be able to donate all proceeds at our community level.
Also on Saturday, my friend Sam from Stritch made an impromptu visit to Green Bay. Being two hours away and everyone having very hectic work and personal life schedules, I don't get to see my college friends very often. The last time I had seen her was in April, so we were definitely due for a visit. We only spent two hours together, but we had such a great talk and it really made my already great day. We caught each other up on our lives, how our jobs were going, and the like. We gossiped and talked about writing, as if there's anything else to talk about. We were both part of the writing program at Stritch and magnetically attracted to each other the first week of school. Actually, I think we became friends right away during orientation week. Both of us expressed our frustration with the inability to get jobs in our fields and how badly we just wanted to write, but not knowing where to begin. What to write about, how to write without our instructor Dave, how to write without having our peers to bounce feedback off of in workshops. I shared with her that I had started this blog and started doing freewriting exercises very similar to what we did in our writing classes, and how badly I just want to proofread anything or everything. Proofreading in really what I have a passion for, even more so than writing or reading. I have a knack for it and the eye for detail. We agreed to send each other any pieces of writing that we're working on to have the other person look over it. Finally, I might be getting somewhere with my degree, even if it isn't a paid position.
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| A balloon release after the AFSP walk |
Monday, September 5, 2011
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know whatcha gunna get.
Welcome to my blog, dear readers. I suppose I shall introduce myself and my intentions with this blog. I graduated with a BA in Writing and minored in Women's Studies in May 2010. Since graduating a year ago, I've been actively looking for a job in my field and trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life. It hasn't gotten very far. I am currently working in a call center for a paper company and am trained exclusively on baby care/child care products. Which means I spend eight hours a day talking about diapers. The company is great and I love my coworkers, but it's not what I had ever pictured myself doing. It is, without a doubt, a job and not a career. It's a very good company to get in to, but the position is not for me. Very recently I started becoming rather unhappy with my life and success, or lack thereof. I had gotten myself into a rut and felt like I was doing nothing with my life or degree. After a few weeks of bitching and tears, I decided to do something about it and make myself happy instead of just complaining that I wasn't. I started actively searching for jobs in my field and wanted to start writing again. So here I am. This blog is meant to get me writing more, and will give me motivation to keep up with it. Hopefully people are reading this to give me reason to continue posting.
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| My co-workers and I in training. |
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