After I returned from Europe (which I still have posts and thoughts I never finished writing about) I began a job hunt, well more like a career hunt since I had my master's degree and was looking for something permanent. A week of unemployment turned into two, and two turned into a couple of months. To pass the time, I interviewed and got a job at a retail store for the Christmas season and have now become a permanent fixture until I can find something better suited for me. During the Christmas season the job was fun, fast-paced and always something going on. After Christmas, I never realized what a drag retail was. Now I understood why when you walked into a store so many people greeted you...it's not because they want to provide you with great customer service, or necessarily work off commission...it is because they are truly bored. I would spend my slow days DYING for someone to talk to me. It didn't matter about what, as long as you spoke to me and we had a conversation about anything besides glass, I was the happiest kid in the world. And now when I go into other retail stores on a slow day, I wonder if those poor retail associates would appreciate a conversation as much as I would or if I should leave them to be lost in their thoughts.
Towards the end of my seasonal employment, I received a call from a temp agency asking me if I would be interested in working at another university in the Southern California area. I jumped at the opportunity! Especially since resume upon resume had been sent out and interview upon interview had started to take it's course on me and my self-esteem. However, the caveat was that it was in Housing. I left another university with the clear purpose of "I just don't want to do housing anymore" but I took the job since I would be contracted to work six months and it would provide me with the opportunity to apply for jobs outside of customer service and housing. I started in March and have been at my post for almost 2 months. One of the good things about my position is that I am learning another aspect of Housing such as contracting and room assignments that I did not have the opportunity to learn in my previous position. I also get to work with a new batch of students, and get to work with other student demographics that I had not had the opportunity to work with in the past. So all in all, I am gaining a new perspective and new experiences with this job. However, much of the politics are the same between this university and my old university. And some of the politics are new, so new and so absent mindedly crazy that it makes me miss my old university, old supervisor and old director and trust me, that is nothing I ever thought I would say. And those that have known me long enough, never thought I would miss my old university or department either.
At my previous university, with the exception of one, it took me a long time to get to know my co-workers. And I learned, years too late, that I am bad at small talk. I am not good at they "hey good morning, how was your weekend?" routine that Monday mornings bring. My old co-workers understood that, recognized that and acknowledged my presence but did not pressure me to indulge them with the boring details of my life. Here, at this university, I do not have that luxury. I have to sit at attention while people tell me about their weekends with their kids and their families while my answer to every question about my weekend is "Fine. I just worked at my other job." I know each place is different, and I have to mold myself to fit into my surroundings but I miss the role of being the knowledgeable wallflower that I once was at a university long ago.
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