Well, my first day of college is here. Here, as in, today. Like, right now.
I've thought about this day for many years. I've envisioned this day occurring on at least 10 different campuses. I've imagined feeling about 20 different emotions. But above all, I envisioned how amazing it would feel to have high school finally behind me.
Today feels very different from how I imagined, as I suppose most things do. Yes, it's nice knowing I'm not going back to a place I hate, but oddly, it feels barely relevant now. Honestly, I really haven't thought about high school since before I graduated. Instead, I feel pretty neutral, with a big pinch of anxiety.
It's a little disappointing to me to not feel some sort of extreme excitement like so many of my friends and other college freshmen do. My problem is petty--this is not the exact situation I wanted, and I haven't gotten completely over it, even four months later. I know. I need to grow up and accept life's unfortunate twists. But for some reason, I can't accept this one. Not just yet.
Regardless, I've got some things I want to accomplish this year, and I might as well share them to see if I actually do fulfill all of them by May 2015.
- Make new friends
- Volunteer more
- Try new sports
- Get involved in a club or two
- Keep a solid GPA
- Attempt to get an internship for the summer
- Have more fun
- Create great experiences
Basically, my ultimate goal this year is to still remain serious about my education, but also be serious about enjoying life (I realize that's an oxymoron). One of my favorite quotes right now is: "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live," said by Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series. That's what I want this year to be like. I spent the latter half of high school so focused on dreams that I forced myself to not truly live, and in the end, the dreams just crushed me anyway, and I wished I had just had more fun. I don't want to be miserable again, and that's why I'm glad college is here. College seems to offer many opportunities for fun, and I plan to take advantage of that, for sure. In moderation, of course.
So, here we go. Wish me luck. Or rather, wish me fun.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Summer 2014 Review
This has been the first summer in two years that has actually been a proper "summer break". Last summer, I was in summer school. The year before that, I was training 20 hours a week and taking SAT practice tests in my spare time. Lame, right?
So, approaching this summer break, I knew I wanted to go all out and do everything I've been wanting to do for two years in just three months. To give you an idea of how utterly desperate I was for a break, I starting planning summer break activities probably back in October of last year. Anyway, here are the things I did, in order, ranked from most fun to less fun, but still fun.
1. Read the Harry Potter series
This is no joke the most fun thing I've at least done in a very long time. Before reading the books, I had the common preconceived notion about Harry Potter books: they were about magic and witches and wizards, and all of that was odd and probably something I would never care about. But it turns out that the magic is just "there" as a medium of sorts to convey the actual underlying story, which is not really about magic at all. I don't think I've ever read a book series that captivated me as wholeheartedly as this one did. Heck, I even bought Harry Potter clothes. Take that, The Hunger Games (disclaimer: I still really like The Hunger Games; it's just not as good as Harry Potter).
2. Watch every movie I've wanted to watch for two years
Two years is a long time to virtually go without seeing any movies. Therefore, I had a ridiculously long list of movies I wanted to watch, and I'm both proud and a little ashamed that I've been able to watch all 30 or so movies. They ranged from all of the Harry Potter movies (of course) to practically all of the Oscar-nominated films this year, as well as as some old classics, such as Titanic (my new favorite movie) and The Matrix.
3. Buy new clothes
These days, I sometimes take a look at my closet and realize that at least a fourth of the clothes in there were not there before the summer started. In a good way, I was too busy to go shopping during the school year. But this summer has been a prime opportunity to support the economy through my impulsiveness. Working at the mall didn't really helped my bank account, but then again, I would not have been able to take advantage of all the sales and amazing deals I got on clothes if I hadn't been there almost every day. Also, ironically enough, I found most of the clothes in the store I worked in to be completely unappealing, yet I managed to still spend quite a bit of money there on stuff I did like. Anyway, I try to make myself feel better about it all with the fact that I honestly don't feel like shopping much at all--or at least, not for a while. Give me a few months.
4. Spending days doing absolutely nothing
When summer break began and I occasionally spent days doing nothing at all, I really beat myself up over it. Basically, I was so used to always needing to be productive that I didn't want to let myself relax. I'm still sort of like that, but I've really enjoyed the days that I didn't really do anything at all. It is an excellent way to recharge.
5. Working
Like I said, I'm the kind of person who always needs something to do because I hate boredom. Working about 15 hours per week gave me something to do, while at the same time giving me nothing to do for a lot of the time (does that even make sense?). While the job was very stressful sometimes, other times it was a lot of fun, and that was mostly because of the customers and my coworkers. I think I will genuinely miss going off to work and feeling like I'm making a small contribution to the world.
I would give this summer 9 stars out of 10. My only complaint is that I didn't do absolutely everything I wanted to do, but then again, when does anyone ever do that?
Monday, August 4, 2014
Resignation Thoughts
At the start of this year, I had a goal. Well, I had many, but this was a new one: get a retail job after I graduate, learn something new from it, and try to make some spending money for college.
I had it all planned out in my head: I'd apply to my favorite clothing store, brush up my resume, and they'd take me faster than I could snap my fingers. How hard could it possibly be to get a job in retail? People are always leaving their retail jobs anyway; can't be that bad.
I was so laughably wrong.
I spent the last remaining 3 months of school working on job applications. Waking up early on Saturday and Sunday, I slaved through probably 15 different applications, answering all the repetitive basic questions over and over again, taking numerous assessment tests that each usually took at least an hour to complete, and only getting more frustrated. Weeks went by before I got my first call back. And it was only to hear that because I didn't want to work very long term, I was no longer a candidate for the position.
Moderately discouraged, I kept working on those applications. Went to an interview; got rejected that night. Rejected from another place. And another. And another. I think I'll always think of those months purely as "rejection months" as I was rejected from colleges and jobs alike. A truly difficult combination to stomach.
Now I was getting desperate. I was running out of stores I could think of, and I didn't want to fall back on coaching gymnastics classes. Finally, I got a call from a store I had applied to a while ago and forgotten about. I had a basic phone interview right then, and I was invited to come in for a real interview. I was hopeful, because this was looking like my best shot. Funny enough, the interview was on my last day of high school. To me, that's somewhat symbolic as an immediate transition into the "real world".
The interview was my best yet, and I was thoroughly excited to be contacted a few days later with a job offer. I accepted, and I've been working it ever since.
It's important to emphasize that I didn't really want this job for the money, because honestly, it's been somewhat negligible. Instead, I wanted to learn something new this summer, and there's no question that I have. As I resigned last week due to my upcoming class schedule and some other complications, I wanted to list some skills I've learned from working in retail.
1. Communication
Undoubtedly, the single greatest thing I learned this summer has been much better communication skills. I went from being the mildly shy, nervous girl who dreaded saying "Hi, how are you?" to customers to the girl who can deal with incredibly confusing, demanding, or somewhat unkind customers while keeping a smile on her face. Also, customers come in often saying one thing while actually meaning something completely different, and learning to translate that has proved very useful. Genuinely, I'm proud. This job broke me out of my shell very well, and this is a skill I'm going to carry with me for the rest of my life.
2. How to be a better customer
As someone who has experienced all kinds of customers, I understand the impact that being a good customer can make on retail employees. My second day on the job, I nervously asked a lady how she was doing, and she replied with "Oh, I'm fine. The real question is, how are you?" I was quite taken aback by this but it made my day so much better. Customers ask how I'm doing about 50% the time, and I still find it really nice to not just be treated as someone in the background. Anyway, asking employees how they're doing is just one way to be a better customer; other ways include not leaving the fitting rooms in a mess, trying not to mess up displays too much, and just being kind. It will all go a long way, I assure you.
3. How to fold clothes REALLY WELL
My folding skills before I started working were pretty darn mediocre. But now, after folding probably thousands of shirts and sweaters and pants, I have to say I am a pretty badass folder. There's nothing I can't fold. My closet and drawers are noticeably improved, too.
4. How to cope with very, very old technology
I'm going to make an extreme generalization: retail is extremely behind in technology. For example, the POS software on the store's registers is at least 5 years old, there are numerous flaws in the program, and the "touch screens" don't respond well to pressure, just to name a few. It usually takes about a month to train a brand new employee in retail, but 2 of those weeks could be easily eliminated with more intuitive software in the registers better integrated with company systems. There is so much time wasted fumbling with unnecessarily problematic technology that could be used to interact with customers and promote more sales. These experiences have motivated me even more to pursue engineering, because the retail industry could definitely use an overhaul, and fast.
5. How to stand in heels for 4 to 6 hours at a time
While this is perhaps the least useful thing I've learned, it's been great for endurance purposes. The first few weeks on the job, my feet hurt so badly that when I got home, all I could do was lie in bed and wish someone could massage my aching feet. The day before I graduated, I wore new shoes that cut up my heels so badly that there was actually blood involved. You can imagine the agony I was trying to hide as I walked across stage next day. Uggh. Anyway now I barely feel the pain, thank god.
So, as my last day approaches in just over a week, I'm grateful. I've learned so much that has greatly benefited me already. Perhaps this hasn't been my dream job, but it's been a great experience to learn from and motivate me to pursue what I'm truly passionate about in the future.
I had it all planned out in my head: I'd apply to my favorite clothing store, brush up my resume, and they'd take me faster than I could snap my fingers. How hard could it possibly be to get a job in retail? People are always leaving their retail jobs anyway; can't be that bad.
I was so laughably wrong.
I spent the last remaining 3 months of school working on job applications. Waking up early on Saturday and Sunday, I slaved through probably 15 different applications, answering all the repetitive basic questions over and over again, taking numerous assessment tests that each usually took at least an hour to complete, and only getting more frustrated. Weeks went by before I got my first call back. And it was only to hear that because I didn't want to work very long term, I was no longer a candidate for the position.
Moderately discouraged, I kept working on those applications. Went to an interview; got rejected that night. Rejected from another place. And another. And another. I think I'll always think of those months purely as "rejection months" as I was rejected from colleges and jobs alike. A truly difficult combination to stomach.
Now I was getting desperate. I was running out of stores I could think of, and I didn't want to fall back on coaching gymnastics classes. Finally, I got a call from a store I had applied to a while ago and forgotten about. I had a basic phone interview right then, and I was invited to come in for a real interview. I was hopeful, because this was looking like my best shot. Funny enough, the interview was on my last day of high school. To me, that's somewhat symbolic as an immediate transition into the "real world".
The interview was my best yet, and I was thoroughly excited to be contacted a few days later with a job offer. I accepted, and I've been working it ever since.
It's important to emphasize that I didn't really want this job for the money, because honestly, it's been somewhat negligible. Instead, I wanted to learn something new this summer, and there's no question that I have. As I resigned last week due to my upcoming class schedule and some other complications, I wanted to list some skills I've learned from working in retail.
1. Communication
Undoubtedly, the single greatest thing I learned this summer has been much better communication skills. I went from being the mildly shy, nervous girl who dreaded saying "Hi, how are you?" to customers to the girl who can deal with incredibly confusing, demanding, or somewhat unkind customers while keeping a smile on her face. Also, customers come in often saying one thing while actually meaning something completely different, and learning to translate that has proved very useful. Genuinely, I'm proud. This job broke me out of my shell very well, and this is a skill I'm going to carry with me for the rest of my life.
2. How to be a better customer
As someone who has experienced all kinds of customers, I understand the impact that being a good customer can make on retail employees. My second day on the job, I nervously asked a lady how she was doing, and she replied with "Oh, I'm fine. The real question is, how are you?" I was quite taken aback by this but it made my day so much better. Customers ask how I'm doing about 50% the time, and I still find it really nice to not just be treated as someone in the background. Anyway, asking employees how they're doing is just one way to be a better customer; other ways include not leaving the fitting rooms in a mess, trying not to mess up displays too much, and just being kind. It will all go a long way, I assure you.
3. How to fold clothes REALLY WELL
My folding skills before I started working were pretty darn mediocre. But now, after folding probably thousands of shirts and sweaters and pants, I have to say I am a pretty badass folder. There's nothing I can't fold. My closet and drawers are noticeably improved, too.
4. How to cope with very, very old technology
I'm going to make an extreme generalization: retail is extremely behind in technology. For example, the POS software on the store's registers is at least 5 years old, there are numerous flaws in the program, and the "touch screens" don't respond well to pressure, just to name a few. It usually takes about a month to train a brand new employee in retail, but 2 of those weeks could be easily eliminated with more intuitive software in the registers better integrated with company systems. There is so much time wasted fumbling with unnecessarily problematic technology that could be used to interact with customers and promote more sales. These experiences have motivated me even more to pursue engineering, because the retail industry could definitely use an overhaul, and fast.
5. How to stand in heels for 4 to 6 hours at a time
While this is perhaps the least useful thing I've learned, it's been great for endurance purposes. The first few weeks on the job, my feet hurt so badly that when I got home, all I could do was lie in bed and wish someone could massage my aching feet. The day before I graduated, I wore new shoes that cut up my heels so badly that there was actually blood involved. You can imagine the agony I was trying to hide as I walked across stage next day. Uggh. Anyway now I barely feel the pain, thank god.
So, as my last day approaches in just over a week, I'm grateful. I've learned so much that has greatly benefited me already. Perhaps this hasn't been my dream job, but it's been a great experience to learn from and motivate me to pursue what I'm truly passionate about in the future.
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