Today takes the cake

So it's week three of my new job and I'm loving every minute of it.
I'm beginning to really get an understanding of the program and what it has to offer. And I'm really getting involved in a lot of the processes, events and procedures that are involved.

Drive arounds: I was asked by my new boss to drive her to a presentation she was giving on campus. Now the UT campus is huge, and it was a relatively cool day. I use that term loosely because obviously it's no Canadian Winter day down here, but it was only about 45 degrees which isn't all that warm and for a Texan, it's COLD. The problem is there is not nearly enough parking on campus for all of those who work here. So there are limited parking passes and the guidelines about where you can park with which pass is very particular. So we leave the office and drive over to where she needs to be. We discuss that I will sit in the spot until someone asks me to move and we decide on an alternative spot in case I've moved when she gets out. So for 1 hour and 15 min I sat in my boss' Cadillac, listening to country music, while texting my sister and basking in the afternoon sun. By that time the temp had gone up enough that I rolled the window down and was able to enjoy the fresh air. Not bad for my first Thursday on the job.

Info Sessions: I have accompanied one of our professors to the Dramatic Arts lecture to make a quick presentation to the students. This presentation involves about 12 slides and it's a brief run down of what the program is, when it operates, how you can enroll and what it's benefits are. Very informative and helpful for me to see how the presentation is delivered. These info sessions are something we do throughout the year to get interest in the Business Foundations Program.

Presentations/Recruitment: Our weekly meeting with the Students (that work in our office) happens on Mondays. I had attended one and during my second I was asked if I would present at next weeks meeting. I was given a set of slides and I was to practice the "info session speech" to present with another student to the group the following week. Well that was yesterday and I'd say for being BRAND new to the program and office and team I did pretty well. I hadn't given a speech or presented since school and that was 5 years ago now. It's not something that I have kept up with because my positions have never required me to do so. However, I'm really excited to be able to public speak with confidence again. And it looks like I'll be doing some on campus recruitment going forward. Speaking at lectures, at club meetings, fraternity and sorority meetings as well as off campus when we are invited to participate in Community College events and perhaps in the distant future to high school seniors.

 
Explore UT: This event is put on every year by the university. It's a way for the school to get people in the community on campus. Some people have never been to University, some people have kids considering University, and some people just have a desire to walk around the campus and wouldn't do so otherwise. Whatever the reason thousands of people show up to the school this Saturday March 1 and explore the campus, buildings and participate in all the activities that go on. I've been appointed team lead this year because A. I'm here now and B. None of the Faculty members are available this coming Saturday. So it's just the students and I who will be manning our stations. We are making Sand Bracelets with the kids that come around. That is the age group our activity caters to.
http://www.utexas.edu/know/2014/02/24/be-a-longhorn-for-a-day-at-explore-ut/

Marketing: There are quite a few marketing initiatives taking place as the program is growing. There has been some help but not a full time person in the role. Luckily I have a little experience with social media, word press and I'm super creative. We do have a graphic designer but I'm also learning Adobe Creative Suite so we can cut costs on external vendors and just pay our people. So we are working on some flyer's, creating a banner for a public transit promotion, t-shirts to give to our Summer program students, and creating a presence on social media sites.

ACC Marketplace: This Thursday I am spending the first 2/3 of the day at the Austin Community College Campus in Round Rock (which is a bit North of where my house is) and we are participating in the on-campus Marketplace event. We will be manning a table to distribute handouts and information about the Business Foundations Summer Institute and try to recruit some of the students from their campus for the 8 week intensive program we offer! It will be great practice for me to familiarize myself with the program and what we do. So that I can gain all the confidence needed to become the recruitment person going forward.

And today takes the cake: Work meeting over (NOT LUNCH) pedicures!
Working with a group of ladies really has it's perks. We have a weekly meeting to discuss the upcoming Summer Institute program we run for 8 weeks in June/July. And they've decided that once a month they will treat themselves to pedicures while meeting for an hour. So today is the first day since I've started that they're going. And I've just been invited. So pedicure at 2pm, business meeting during and then done for the day afterwards.

I do love my new job for a lot of reasons, but honestly...what's not to like? There are so many new opportunities that are being presented to me and I'm grateful for so much in life. But it all stems from my parents. They taught me to be bold, they taught me to be brave and that change can be scary but it's not a bad thing. And here I am from Canada to Texas with 6 months of planning and I'm building my new chapter of life here, with this job, and these people, and this amazing opportunity. I'm feeling really lucky. When I set my mind to something, I just go for it. There is no other way for me.

XO

L.

I have arrived!

It's official I have arrived. My flight left early on Saturday morning from Buffalo. My parents drop me off at the airport and walked me inside. My mom had a hard time saying bye, she waited all the way until I was through security and on the other side, safely waving to her before she left. She started to get a little bit emotional but I had to cut her off. If she cried, I would cry and everybody would cry, and it would just be a disaster. I need no tears because I knew if they started they would never stop. And after all, they are coming down in one week. After a layover in Chicago I arrive in Texas around 1 PM. I was able to sleep most of the way on the plane because it was such an early morning and I was so tired. Lucky for me I chose a window seat and a man sat in the aisle in the same row and no one set between us! So I was able to get comfortable and spread a little bit.

When we landed in Austin I had to peeeee so bad so I went to the washroom and then headed down to baggage claim. After a minute or so the carousel started moving and the bags started coming down the ramp and going around and around and around, finally my purple suitcase came but the carousel stopped, everyone had disbursed and my brown suitcase still wasn't there. I had to head into Southwest customer service and put in a claim for lost bag. They said it was still early and that
there were a lot of flights to come in so it would be there by the end of the day. So I headed over to the SuperShuttle, checked in and waited for my ride. I met a really nice man on the shuttle bus. He was on his way home from a week in Peru and he was sharing his photos with me. We were talking
about how I had just moved from Canada and he was assuring me that I would love living in Austin. We chatted the entire way to my rental and the shuttle bus drop me off. He wished me good luck and that was that.

I found the keys to my apartment in a lock box attached to the doorknob, entered the code and open the door to this cute little furnished bachelor apartment. It has everything one person could need. But just for a week. My new walk-in closet is bigger than this place. I unpacked the suitcases that I did have and tried to make myself at home by hanging my clothes in the closet and putting my things away in the drawers.

After waiting all afternoon and hanging out with my family via Skype, Southwest airlines finally called and told me that my bag had arrived at 4 PM and the next baggage collection pickup time was 6 PM. They give the drivers of four hour window because they have multiple stops and so my bag would be there anytime between 6 PM and 10 PM. Around 9 o'clock I started to really wonder if my bag was actually going to arrive. I'm only a 10 minute drive from the airport and I couldn't understand why it was taking so long. I had my mom phone to avoid long-distance charges and the woman told her that if the bank wasn't there by 10:01 PM that we should call the office back. Technically they did have until 10 o'clock on the dot. At 10:04 we phoned the office and it was closed my call went directly to voicemail. A few minutes after that I got a phone call from an unknown number, it was the baggage claim delivery service and they couldn't locate me because my street address did not match with the ZIP Code. I'm not sure why they didn't think to phone me sooner. But at that point he couldn't guarantee that it would be there before midnight! I was assertive to say the least. Without being rude I told him that I have been waiting all afternoon for my luggage and that I was promised he would be there by 10 PM. I was tired and didn't want to wait up for my luggage anymore so I asked him if he could make sure that I was the very first delivery in the morning and also guarantee me that my luggage would arrive before 10 AM. He said NO! he could not guarantee anything for the morning but he could guarantee that my bag would arrive before midnight. He said if I'd like to go to bed he would give me a call when the driver was about five minutes out so that I knew that they were coming. I said fine, really what other choice did I have? It wasn't about 15 minutes later when they called to say that my bag would be arriving in 15 minutes and at 10:45 it arrived.

Hallelujah!!!

I went to bed immediately and because I had been up for so many hours and I was exhausted I slept like a baby. The bed is so comfortable here, thankfully!

On Sunday I woke up and the weather was so beautiful so I showered and got ready and went out to the grocery store. I walked about four blocks to the Hancock Center, where they have my new local grocery store HEB. I got some salad fixings and some other things like yogurt and fruit for my lunches.

I've decided that I'm officially starting my gluten-free diet now that I'm in Texas although I was really craving a sandwich -naturally I avoided the bread section.

At the grocery store Eye of the tiger was playing and I turn down three separate aisles with my grocery cart and one woman with tapping her foot another man was singing to himself and another lady was full out dancing with her child. Two people on my shopping excursion told me that I smelled nice. And I had a really sweet grocery bag boy that helped me load the groceries into my reusable shopping bags and load the cart.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Friday night lights, getting into the Texas spirit and skyping with the family.

I'd say all in all, a very successful weekend!!

Texas I have arrived!!!!!!!!!!

XO

L.