I just had my final phone call with ONE. I guess it could have been considered an exit interview; a list of questions about the things that I liked, the changes I want to see made. Working with ONE has been an amazing, glorious experience. They have taught me things I couldn't have learned anywhere else, sent me to Kenya - I will miss working with ONE, flying to DC every January to spend three days holed up in conference rooms (okay, two when you get food poisoning), but it is time. This semester has taught me a lot about me and my priorities, and dedicated time to ONE just isn't in the cards anymore.
In about three weeks, I get to start the most amazing job. My internship this semester with the Student Affairs department really taught me a lot, but mostly it introduced me to a career field that I actually feel good about. I am proud to tell people that I want to work at the University level, that I want to manage student involvement activities or work for resident life. And this new job? It lets me do just that.
Yes, I am still a student. I changed my major, pushed out my graduation, but it is worth it. I will be interning in the Office of Student Involvement on our campus, working for the same woman who got me in to Student Affairs in the first place, and helping to run programs on our campus. Our Public Affairs Lecture Series, Women of Distinction, Chancellor's Seminar Series...all of these fall in to my lap, and I can't wait to get started.
I'm so excited that I'm pretty sure Michelle is going to explode if I ask her one more time when I am starting. Or when she and I can sit down and talk about what I'm doing. I know I need to wait; she and Sally (the most recent intern) and I are sitting down next Tuesday, and that is going to be amazing, but it doesn't make me any less antsy to start my job. I'm bored just sitting around, watching bad television and reading books. The reading books part is fun, but I can still do that while working 15 hours a week for the office. I just want to start so bad.
But I'll wait. June 7, hopefully, is my start date. It seems so far away, but it's only a couple of weeks. I can wait that long. Right?
