Justifications by an MPA overachiever

“Don’t you think you could be a successful student and get a job after graduation if you take 14 or better yet, 12 credits this semester?” she asked.

I struggled for, like, the 5th time in the past few weeks to explain to someone why I lied to myself again.

You see, I told myself in October, November, and December of last year (2008) that if I could just make it to the end of the semester, I would not do this thing, this thing that I am about to do, again.

You see, I’m about to take 16 credits.

And while I would have no problem eating crow and dropping a class if I get too overwhelmed or if one of them sucked, but based on the class titles, the descriptions, and the professors, I NEED to be in ALL these classes.  They complete my theme.

I get that 16 credits is a lot for graduate school, but if I could do it last semester, then I can do again this semester. Dammit!

But when I tried to explain the concept of my theme to my therapist today, she was making some hellafied faces at me.  Similar to the faces of all the other people over the past month who have heard about the marathon of classes that I’m taking this Spring.

My classmates, mostly, are barely taking enough classes to be full time and stare at me wide-eyed when I explain to them my hustle plan. And my faculty advisor, bless his heart, is so focused on getting my capstone (master’s thesis) completed that he may have a conniption fit if he finds out my class schedule. My girlfriend, if I complain one ioda, may push me down a flight of stairs and scream after me, “I TOLD YOU SOOOOOO!” Not because she’s evil, but because she has spend considerable breath telling me to drop something, anything, so that I don’t find myself burnt out and super stressed in April.

My mother, on the other hand, thinks I’m a genius and is so very proud. Her only concern is what we are doing for graduation. Are we having a dinner, throwing a party, sending out invitations?  For her, graduating isn’t an option. Passing my classes isn’t an option. She just assumes (rightly so) that everything that needs to get done will get done. And frankly, she doesn’t give two sh!ts how they get done. All she knows is, her oldest daughter is graduating with a Master’s degree on Mother’s Day and is going to be fabulously successful. And while I know that she really doesn’t understand the work that will go into accomplishing that goal, I love the fact that she just assumes it’s going to happen. She even wants to come to school to hear me defend my paper. (she’s so sweet).

But for everyone who isn’t my mother-those of ya’ll who are now thinking, “Why the hell does Monica HAVE to take 16 credits and what the hell is this theme she speaks of?”

Here is your answer.

I’m taking 16 credits because I am in school to learn and I believe that I have a duty to take advance of this time that I am taking for graduate school.  Why pay the tuition, and take the time off (when I could be working) to come to graduate school if I’m just going to pussyfoot around and half-ass it?

I’m taking 16 credits because I genuinely want to learn, and everything that I’m enrolled in sounds so COOL. And I would never forgive myself if I don’t soak up as much as I can from the professors that I am taking. One of my professors is one of the coolest men I know. He’s funny, brilliant, and he’s f-ing famous.

I ‘m taking 16 credits because at some point in the future, I’m going to go on interviews (or at least have to explain to someone what I’ve learned in graduate school), and having a wide breath of knowledge and some topics that I’ve dug a little deeper into sounds like a reasonable idea.

And that leads me to the idea of a theme.  A theme is a set of inter-related classes that paint a broader picture of a theory or policy or an application.

See, Fall 2008 also had a theme. The theme of last semester was Housing and Community Development.

Housing Policy was my favorite class. I learned how to develop affordable housing, I learned about new ideas and trends in affordable housing. I learned so much about the housing crisis and I am kicking myself right now for not posting more about it over the semester. I learned the policy (and economic) implications for developing affordable housing.  I also learned what the hell “affordable” means. I also learned that there are people who are poor enough that affordable housing isn’t affordable.

The class made me sad, it made me mad, some days it made me want to throw things.  But at the end of the day, it reminded me how much I love houses, homes and communities. It reignited my passion for housing. And gave me some tools that will help me to work in that area.

One other class that worked with my theme was Urban Revitalization.  While Housing Policy looked at mostly federal regulations, UR was all about neighborhoods.  Getting down to where people live, literally. UR made me think about housing and real estate as a neighborhood issue. To be successful as a housing advocate or developer, I have to have a workable relationship with the neighborhoods where I work. This class was the flip side of Housing Policy, and I’m glad I took them both together.

While these classes make up the bulk of my theme, I took the research from these two classes to write papers for other classes.  Basically I wrote 1 paper, and adapted it for the requirements of other classes. I think I used it 3 or 4 times.

This allowed me to dig deeper into a topic area, Inclusionary Zoning.  Basically, inclusionary zoning is a mechanism that local governments can use to create and sustain affordable housing.  And you, dear readers, are reading the words of an inclusionary zoning expert.  *** popping my collar****    I can talk about IZ from a legal point (constitutional and case law) from an economic point and a social policy point. I even worked on a project for a local organization that hopefully will spurn inclusionary zoning policies in my local community.

This spring semester, my theme is Real Estate Development and Social Entrepreneurship. AND my classes compliment my capstone and will provide the background for my dissertation. (Ya’ll knew I wanted to be Dr. Monica one day, right?)

My classes include New Urbanism and Sustainable Development, Real Estate Funding, Capital Budgeting, Policy Implications of the Creative Class, Intro to Social Entrepreneurship and some other stuff that they are making me take. See the theme?  NOW do you see why I have to leave my schedule intact?

I want to use these classes, especially New Urbanism class, and the Creative Class Policy class to build on my capstone research (which I realize that I haven’t really explained at all on this blog, maybe I’ll get to it next time) and set up my dissertation research. And the other classes, Budgeting, Real Estate Funding and Social Entrepreneurship, along with one class from the Fall, Non-Profit Law, will help me start my real estate development business.

Anyway, the point here is that there is a method to my madness. While I may want to die come April, when this is all over, I will have accomplished something significant.  I will have a body of work on topics that I care about and (hopefully) publishable articles, I will be clear candidate for the types of employment I want and I will already have the groundwork for my dissertation all set up for when that time comes. And oh yeah, I’ll be able to tell folks what I’ve been doing for the past 2 years.

So yeah, I may be crazy, but 16 credits and 5 months of super hard work doesn’t seem like that much when I think of where it will put me in the long run. And to answer my therapist’s question, no, it wouldn’t be the same with 12 credits. It would destroy my theme, and furthermore, what would I drop?!?!?!?

So I’m preparing to hunker down, and get it done. I’ll see you at the finish line.

 

How the recession hit me

I think I’ve mentioned at least once or twice how I love my job at the Chamber of Commerce. I’ve learned a lot since I started working there. I’ve learned so much; about myself, the kind of job I want in the future, and about the kinds of work I want to do. (An ode to why I love the Chamber is in the works, just not for today.)

Last week, I approached my boss to ask for the week between X-mas and News Year’s off.  And was informed that my services would not be needed after Wednesday. This coming Wednesday.  Sadness (and panic), ensues.

I mean my boss was is awesome.  He made sure I understood why I’m being laid off. I’mbeing laid off because they can’t afford me, not because I suck as an employee.  He even said that I rock as an employee and he wishes he could keep me and he’s being talking me up to folks who may be in a position to hire me.

I can’t believe that I’m being LAID OFF, this is so weird.

Why I’m being laid off (a longer version):

You see, the Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization.  Their members are local area businesses. And in a recession, businesses make less money.  All the businesses, regardless of whether they are professional services, restaurants, retailers, bars, or financial institutions when they make less money, they cut stuff to preserve the bottom line.   And some (I don’t know how many, exactly) of the Chamber’s members are not renewing their dues. I know the real estate and development community has been hit pretty hard.

As the Chamber’s members tighten their belts, the Chamber has to tighten theirs. And the intern budget disappears.

So I’m jobless. And not because I did anything wrong. Which makes it so much easier and happier (you can tell by my use of flowers and smiley faces and exclamation points, how much I mean this)

How the hell did I not see this coming???

But I didn’t see it coming. All this time, I’ve been making fun of the Big 3 and how they failed to innovate or do ANYTHING really.

And I’ve been scratching my head about the financial crisis and have shaken my head in disgust in my policy class when we would learn about the greed of Wall Street investors and am incredulous that they could do the sh*t they’ve done and still be holding their hands out.

I still haven’t figured out what the fu*k is the problem with the banks and why the hell can’t they just LEND money.

I’ve rolled my eyes at folks who made bad mortgages decisions. I mean, when I was looking for a home at age 24 I knew enough not to get into a ARM or a Balloon or a variable rate mortgage, so how are all these other people stupid enough to fall for it?

Well, I’ve heard the Chamber’s Executive Director talk about how next year will be the hardest year for the Chamber, who over the past 10 years has experienced double digit growth, but for the first time ever will be facing a cut.

But I didn’t know that meant that I’d be history.

Basically, I was stupid.  I thought that if I did more than my job, took initiative (asked for more work), and stayed visible and engaged, I’d have a job as long as I wanted it.

I was wrong. Sometimes when you do everything right sh*t still happens. And since I’m the low man on the totem pole, I shouldn’t be surprised that I happened to me.

It is fu*king hard out there for a pimp. (and I should know, as I am a pimp)

And the more I’ve thought about it today, even as I made a list of all the organizations in the area that I’ve like to work for the next semester, places I’m going to call right after the holiday break, I realized that probably every one of those organizations is going through a hard time. And as organizations slash millions from their budgets I KNOW that hiring me is going to be a hard sell.

Then I read this offer on Havi’s blog today and it seemed like a dream.  So I applied. And while I didn’t get the offer, it has given me another angle with which to approach my next move. And it gave me hope that work does exist. And I mean work from anywhere in the world kind of work, which would be awesome.

I mean, I’ve been toying with the whole freelance copywriting idea since the summer, and even talked to Naomi about it. But I never followed up or through.

So I’m developing my pitch, which will highlight the fact that hiring me as a contract working is WAY cheaper than hiring a full time employee, the fact that I can research and write, and the fact that I know all the local players.  And one of my favorite local news sources has even mentioned the fact that I’m hirable.  And that gives me hope.

And Kelly gave me a whole list of sites that I can use, in addition to what Naomi gave me, to start seriously start copywriting. And I starting feeling a little better. A little more hopeful.

And I talked to the gf and shared my fears about never getting a job (now or before May) because this is like a replay of 2003 right after Bush bombed Iraq and all the job leads I had dried up (I wanted to be an au pair in France, but after the bombs fell and the whole freedom fries thing, French parents started specifying English, from England au pairs, not American English-speaking girls.)  That’s right the Spring of 2003 was the pre-cursor to Hell Year!!

And when I think about that I get nervous and I start to sweat and I get paralyzed and unable to do ANYTHING. Then the gf tells me that she believes in me, enough even, that I don’t have to believe in myself today. And that gives me LOTS of hope, because she’s pretty smart, and she wouldn’t have faith in me if I were a complete loser.

To all my fellow low men on the totem pole, I wish I had something uplifting and spiritual and sh*t to share with you to make you feel that your job is not  in danger.

Sorry, I can’t say that.

But I can say that even if the complete bottom falls out. I am NOT too proud to work at Target. I am NOT too proud to bus tables. I am NOT too proud to work at the mall. (and neither should you be)

But I don’t really want to work at any of those places (and neither do you). What I do want to do is convince organizations that they need my skills (even if they don’t necessary have the budget for staff) and that hiring me to work on projects saves them time and money, and helps them to check small-ish projects off their to-do list.

So I’m still tackling the list of organizations that I made earlier today, I’m just refining the way I talk to them. And I’m no longer panicked. I have a plan. A plan that I probably should have BEEN working on, anyway.

How are you recession-proofing your job?

 

Happiness to Me BYODream

Tomorrow is December 5th! You know what that means?!?!?!? The last day of the 3rd semester of MPA school! YAY!

SO today, I’m going to introduce someone who is super special to me. The GF is gracing us with her presence and has composed the last in this series of guest posts. (Yay for me getting lots of work done!)

Eysqueen is one half of the creative chaos that exists at Cubicle Crusaders, and is a cube captive by day, superhero by night (her words, not mine, lol).

Enjoy!

-M-

PS: I’ll be writing again next week. I hope you’ve missed me!

For some of us do-gooders out there, we learned the hard and dirty way that the corporate America that was fed to us in childhood isn’t a one size fits all.  We tried it, we did it, we may have even succeeded at it, and then we got over it.  We learned that “money, power, and respect” makes a catchy lyric in a hook, they even taste good in our cereal, but nothing can satisfy that void we have within ourselves that seems to grow every year that we aren’t doing what we are meant to do.

My void started the day I checked the box that said “Computer Science” on my college application.  It was a little void, something the size of a period.  No biggie.  I managed to patch up the void by my second semester when I filled out the form to change my major to “Art/Visual Communications”.  Yeah I was on track after that, void filled, right?

Not so much, as I pimped myself into concentrating in graphic design.  The void grew by leaps and bounds as the pimping turned into manufactured pimping by companies using my talent for their commercialism.  Okay I started to step on my soapbox about corporate America killing the artist.  I’m not ready to stand that tall yet, so I’m stepping back down.

So anyway, I ran from graphic design as fast as Marion Jones without the enhancements (I still believe she was set up and is still one of the fastest women in track and field).

I floated around and found myself in places, doing things that I didn’t know I was good at nor had any previous desire to do. I accidentally found my purpose while flipping the bird to “the man” and corporate America.  I did something that wasn’t glamorous, that didn’t pay well and was all around thankless from the outside looking in.

I taught computer technology to children with behavioral problems.  Talk about a challenge!  But the challenge wasn’t them, it was me.  I’m known for not liking kids, I’m known for shying away from teaching, I’m also known for rising to the occasion and flexing my skills when slept on.  Basically I did it, and I liked it.

Happy ending, right? So I got my teaching license and am living the dream? That would be the easy way, my fellow readers, and easy doesn’t make for a good blog.  No, I got lured back into corporate/ government by the big bucks I had the potential to make by teaching adults computer technology, instead of children.

I was going to be a superstar technology trainer. I was going to have the super big office, and the newest toys.  I worked my way to the top, but I didn’t have the strength to reach far enough because of the void.  The void sucked up my muscle tone. I’m all fat and hot air now.  I stopped exercising my talents; I opted for the easy way, which was not the best way for me.

However, I’m still young, and I have a lifetime of mistakes and oopsies left in me.  I’ve been saving up while doing my time in my “safe” profession.  I’m so ready to make more mistakes and just live.  Being in the wrong field has helped me to concentrate on what is important to me, what I value, and what happiness looks like.

For me, happiness is not corporate America.  Happiness is being in the trenches shaping the mind of a future adult.  Happiness is flowing creatively, and painting and writing.  Just for me, not for a corporate dream.

Happiness for me is living life everyday and doing something that means something.

I am an artist and I reject the cube life.

I want to be my own boss and work with kids and be a counselor and be 4 other different things all in one lifetime.  And anyone who has a problem with it can swivel their ergonomic computer chair to one of the 3 walls in their cube and take a time out to think about how wack they are.

And anyone who applauds, I’ll see you at the coffee shop with the rest of the idea makers, first round of lattes on me!

 

People Power

So I’ve been thinking (for ages) about writing this post, but something else always trumped it. So today is the day! Because,…well, I just want to give the relationship series a break for a little while.

I believe in people. I believe that it is people (not policies or businesses or markets, or any other inorganic, non-breathing thing) that make the world go ‘round. I believe this so much that, right now, as I look for my dream job I’m not hella keen to fill out a bunch of job applications. I just don’t think my life works that way.

Let me back up and explain.

Last year, I really wanted (not wanted, needed desperately) to spend the summer in Atlanta. Unfortunately, I’ve lived and build my network in North Carolina, so the idea of trying to find an internship in another state gave me heart palpitations. I didn’t know what I was going to do.

I mean, I could have d*amn near picked from a stack of NC internships (yes, the girl is THAT good) but no one KNOWS me in Atlanta, and worse, I DIDN”T KNOW ANYBODY. And I knew that I would be competing with students from Ga schools who would also be in the market for summer professional work experience. (which also increased my anxiety level)

For weeks, I spend tons of fruitless hours looking for internships; cold calling, cold emailing, I did online internship searches, I was on listserves… you name it, I did it. All the while, I felt a clock ticking telling me time was running out. (Granted it was freaking October, but I had a mission, remember?)

Wanna know how I got my internship?

One person who knew me =>  knew two people who worked in Atlanta => who got me two interviews => which got me my internship.

I was at a student/faculty meet and greet where I introduced myself as, “Monica, a first year grad student who wants to intern in Atlanta for the summer.” One of the professors said, I used to work in Atlanta, send me your resume and I’ll see what I can do.

Summer internship? Check!

Before I left for Atlanta, I was already thinking ahead to where I wanted to work when I came back to NC for school.  I happened to be at an event with the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce (where I knew I wanted to work). I approached him, reminded him of who I am (he remembered) and I asked him for a job.

I told him that I was going to be away for the summer, but that I would love to do a phone interview to talk about the arrangement. A business card, a month, and one phone interview later, I already knew where I was going to be working when I left Atlanta (and I hadn’t even gotten to Atlanta, yet!)

Year-long internship? Check!

This summer, the day that I was moving to Atlanta, I was in a car accident. Allegedly, the accident was my fault and I got a traffic ticket. The terms of the ticket were that A.) I could just pay it (NOT.GONNA.HAPPEN!) B.) I could get a lawyer to appear in court (NOT! That costs $$$, which I didn’t have) or C. I could appear in court.

By the way, I always appear in court and defend myself.  I think of it as practice for when I’m an attorney.

The problem with me appearing in court in North Carolina was that I was going to be living 6 hours away, and my court date was a Wednesday. So, I would have to miss some work time (and $$$) to drive, appear in court, and drive right back. (And gas prices were NO JOKE).  I knew there was no way that I was going to make that court date.

So I did what anyone would have done. I called the court to see if I could get the court date moved.  No luck. The lady told me some story claiming that I had to appear in person to change my court date. I tried to explain that I was a student who was out of the state, and I couldn’t appear in person to change the date anymore than I could actually appear on the date they gave me.  She didn’t get it.

There was an hour or two when I was frustrated and almost willing to just say “f*ck it! I just won’t show up, since they are making it so difficult to play by the rules”. BTW, that would have triggered a warrant for my arrest, which would have been unfortunate.

Then I remembered my ace.

I once interned in the Clerk of Court office, and later I’d interviewed for a job there. So I emailed the guy that I’d interviewed with (like three and a half years prior), reminded him of who I was (he remembered), told him my situation, and asked what he could do.

Less than an hour later, I had a new court date.

This is the story of my life.

I could go on and on. At least 4 other jobs/internship that I’ve had over the years I’ve gotten because I knew someone who knew someone who got me in front of someone who could get me a job.

I can also tell you of at least one job that I was the runner-up on (also got that interview because I knew someone who knew someone). Guess who got the job? Someone they already knew.

This is the power of people. This is why I network my @ss off. This is why I collect business cards, shake hands and kiss babies.

The people you meet and the people you know totally make a difference.

This is why, during this new job search, I roll my eyes every time I fill out an application. I don’t think I’m going to get my dream job from filling out applications. I totally believe that I’m going to get my dream job by telling my network, “Hey, everyone! I’m looking for my dream job in the San Francisco Bay area.  You know anybody out there? Can you help a sista out?

Then I’m just going so sit back and wait for the goodness to happen. It NEVER fails.

And I’m not playing. Do YOU know anybody in the Bay area? Hit me up. I’m looking for a job.

 

I’m overwhelmed, does it show?

 You may or may not know that I have been away for the past few days on a Chamber of Commerce trip to Ann Arbor. Today was the first and only day that I’ll be in class this week.

I didn’t blog while I was away (I was too busy talking to folks and generally getting into trouble).

For the next few days, I’ll be decompressing and analyzing my experience and hopefully, I’ll find the time to share all the really cool stuff that I got to see and do. I’m also planning to cross-post on OrangePolitics, so that folks in Orange County that didn’t get to go on the trip get to hear my perspective on the Ann Arbor Inter-City Visit.

On a slightly different note, I am feeling a little overwhelmed with my life. The Ann Arbor trip took 3 complete days out of my life. Those were days that I missed class, and didn’t do any reading or research. Those three days left me completely tired and wanting to go to bed immediately. Those were three days that I half-checked my email and I am still not finished getting back to folks. (If you emailed me between Friday and today, I may not have gotten to you yet)

Bottom line, I’m in grad school, I work two jobs, and I blog 2-4 times a week. I have a lot going on, and I’m not willing to let anything go. Everything that I am currently involved in are things that are really important to me, and it’s worth my sanity to stay involved. I think I almost prefer it this way.

Maybe being slightly overwhelmed is going to be the standard for my life. Maybe this is one of the drawbacks of having varied interests. I do a little bit of everything, and I’m the only one who can see the pattern of how it all fits together.

When I think of all the things I have to do, I have to remember to take deep breaths and keep it together. I have to believe that everything is going to be ok. Otherwise, I may start crying and never stop. And I can’t do that since this coming weekend I’m going to a conference in Richmond where I will be blogging and networking and finding a job. (*sign. Why do I keep signing up for these things? I love it, that’s why.)

Two conferences two weeks in a row will leave me even more behind. And even more stressed. And even more crazy. I have research to do and papers to write and presentations to give! But I go to these conferences and I participate through blogging because it is important to me.

In Richmond, I’m going to pass out my resume, and someone is going to offer me my dream job. It is going to happen. The Universe and I have been talking again.

Happy Hump Day!

 

 

10 RANDOM THOUGHTS OF THE DAY

1. Why does it hurts my heart a little bit to see something in print that I already knew intellectually but am still having problems with in reality?

2. I heart my new job already even though (or maybe because) I’m in waaaaay over my head and this is only day one!!!!!

3. I love conferences and hanging out with folks that I can learn from (and I get to do it twice in September)

4. I’m so glad it’s Friday, even though I really haven’t done sh*t all week.

5. I have a great network of colleagues (and a hell of a lot of institutional knowledge) in NC that I will be sad to leave next May

6. I think I am (finally) getting used to being back in NC, even though I still can’t bring myself to try to cook for one

7. I have a feeling that there will be heavy drinking this weekend

8. Apparently there are lots of promiscuous women in America, and I happen to NOT be one of them (did I miss out on anything?) For those of you raising your hand and objecting at this information, shut up, the f*cking numbers speak for themselves!!!

9. How lucky blessed am I to be living my life?  This is the f*cking dream!

10.  My boss is 26.  And his boss hugged me this morning.

 

My Last Day. Eight Eight Oh Eight

I haven’t slept well for the past few nights.  And there is no reason why I shouldn’t be sleeping well.  I’m not under a huge amount of stress, overall life is good.

This morning the gf was so excited.  She gave me a huge hug, and tried to hype me up. “It’s your last day,” she says.  And I give her a sleepy smile and say I can’t get excited.  Because I can’t, not because I don’t want to be.

And she asks me if everything is ok and I spill the beans about not sleeping.  She smiles and says, “YOU ARE EXCITED!”

Apparently, excitement causes me to not sleep.  This is not funny or fun.

Today has been a really fun day, though.  My big boss took me out to lunch.  She bought me a present and everyone signed a card. Then we came back to the office and had birthday cake (it was the big boss’s birthday) All of it was lovely.  And I’m so sad.

At some point this summer, I came to really like the people that I work with, and at some point, I came to really LOVE this little city.

This afternoon L and I took a walk around downtown. After the huge lunch and the bosses birthday cake, we needed to get the blood pumping.  And it hit me.  I really love this girl.  She’s one of those people that come into your life like she’s always been there.  I’ve known her for less than three months, but damn, she knows more of my business  than people that have known me for years (and she gets me and all my lame-ass intellectual jokes!!!). And after this summer, it’s gonna be hard to maintain the friendship that we have built. And that makes me sad.

I’ve established relationships with so many of my co-workers.  My co-workers are the coolest.  These are people that I can call on when I have a problem or a question or I just need someone to bounce my ideas off of.  And after this summer, I won’t be able to just walk down and plop myself in their offices.

And downtown D-town is the best (especially today with temperatures in the 80′s and not the 100′s!) It’s like Mayberry crossed with Manhattan (I know it sounds weird but it is the best, seriously)

And my internship has had its moments.  I have experienced here. (I’m big on experiencing things) And I’ve had fun here. And I’m sad, because there have been a lot of days when I thought that I wanted to get the hell out.  And I do. But I don’t.

See, that’s the thing about change and me.  We have a bittersweet relationship.

I don’t like change but I do like to do different stuff. So today I try to figure out how to keep things the same and different at the same time.  Because I don’t really want to stay here but I don’t want to leave all my people behind.  (I’m still trying to convince L to quit and come home with me.)

I already ache for the people that I’m leaving here. And I already miss the places that I love here.

But change happens and I gotta  go.

 

The Last Week of My Summer Internship

Today marks the first day of my last week working as an intern in D-town.

I’m feeling a little sad about it. It’s funny how a little perspective can change the way I feel about something. Especially since on some days I really detest my internship and on some days I love it more than anything.

In spite of all the busy work, tedious, stupid sh*t they’ve made me do, I really have learned a lot. Tonight I have to present to the City Commission “What I’ve learned on my Summer Vacation” I think the UNC MPA Program Director would prefer it to be called “What I learned during my Summer Professional Work Experience” but oh well.

The good days in D-town have outweighed the bad (at least for today). I have met some really cool, creative, inspiring people in D-town and I’ve tapped one or two as mentors to bounce ideas off of.

I’ve wrote about my internship a bit here, but here’s what I’m telling the big wigs tonight.

The departmental rotations that I have experienced this summer have been huge for me. They have allowed me to have the ‘bird’s eye view from the Manager’s office, as well as, the street level view from the departments.

My favorite rotations have been to Enginneering, Sanitation, and Economic and Community Development.

In Engineering, I spent a day with with the staff looking at site plans, inspecting detention ponds, learning about erosion and the problems with storm water. I learned about sidewalks and different methods for patching holes in roads. I know the difference between a retention and a detention pool. I know that a retaining wall is helpful to mitigate soil erosion, and I know that I never want to live in a flood plain.

In Sanitation, I rode a garbage route with an awesome guy. Garbage collection is a dirty, but oddly satisfying job. I experienced the curb-side and back yard garbage collection and I was impressed with the time and attention that the sanitation workers spend on their routes, in spite of the Georgia heat, rodents and maggots. (All of which I saw on the route).

During my rotation to Community and Economic Development, I spent one day at a conference learning about sustainable planning and building methods, which was really interesting for me, because I want to include sustainable builiding/living as a central piece of my master’s project.

On my second day with Community and Economic Development, we walked around downtown and the director shared with me how downtown Decatur came to look the way it does. We drove around the neighborhoods and the director showed me the commercial nodes in the residential areas, which also added to the feeling of community and provides additional destinations for citizens and guests. We looked at pictures of what Decatur looked like 30 years ago and we talked about the hardwork that the community has put into making the vibrant walkable city that it is today.

I particular enjoyed my police ride-along with my super cool officer. He single-handedly changed the way I feel about police. He exemplifies what I think Decatur is looking for in terms of “community policing”. I think Decatur is lucky to have officers like him. I definitely have a greater respect for the police after spending 12 hours with him.

I have spent the majority of my time this summer working with the Assistant City Manager on the Digital Inclusion requirements of the Wi-Fi grant. I researched what other jurisdictions with city-wide wi-fi do to close the digital divide in terms of special pricing and discounted equipment and presented recommendations to city staff and members of the City Schools technology staff. I think that I have given them some groundwork to establish a joint effort with the School system to increase the number of students with home internet access.

Other projects that I have worked on this summer include preliminary work for redevelopment of the Beacon Complex, including visiting with former Trinity High School students on their experiences at a segregated high school and their hopes for future development on that site.

I also worked on creating Performance Measurement templates to help Code Enforcement, Road and Highway Maintenance, and Fleet Management measure where they’ve been, where they are and where they are going.

I am so glad that I was able to spend my summer working with the City of D-town. I have never met a group of people more dedicated to having the best city. So many people here truly love what they do, and actively tried to recruit me.

Everyone that I have met and worked with has been a pleasure to work with and I’ve been able to learn so much this summer. Thank you so much for having me.

I’m not going to read it, but I needed to have it written out just in case I had a brain fart.

How’s that for perspective, huh? Pretty good? I think ya girl is ready to get back to school finish up this last year and go on with my life.

THE FALL INTERNSHIP SEARCH CONTINUES!!!!!!

 

Sometimes finding a job is as easy as knowing where (and how) to look

As my summer internship is coming to a close, the gf and I have been talking a bit about what we are going to do after I graduate from my super awesome MPA program.

We’ve talked about staying in Atlanta. I vetoed that because I hate the traffic, hate the sprawl, hate the rampant poverty, hate the politics (I could go on). We talked about staying in North Carolina, where she could finish some course work and I could work in a place where I have already established a network. She vetoed that because she’s already lived in NC for 10 and wants to try something else, and she also made a good argument about me moving beyond my comfort zone. So, bottom line, we are moving somewhere completely new.

I have been building a list of “places to live” for a while, and amazingly so has the gf. And even more amazingly, we have a number of cities in common. So the places that we are currently looking at for next year are Denver, Colorado and Tempe, Arizona.

The gf, who is a bit more “control” than I am, asked me last week if I had started looking for jobs, to which I replied that no, I hadn’t started looking at jobs (I’m not moving until next year!!! I have some time yet.) I was able to report that I had started researching the different organizations in the city to see if any interest me. Actually, I started looking at a number of cities as early as last August to see the different kinds of downtown planning they were engaging in.

That’s when the gf said something that I’d never thought of. She said that by looking at the job market now, I could start preparing for what will be on the market next year.

In her care, it totally makes sense. Her field is Educational Technology, which is still so new of a field that she sometimes has to explain to potential employers that they need someone with her skills. So if there are organizations in Denver and Tempe that already understand that they need someone with her particular skill set, then she already has a leg up.

In my case, I’m not so sure that canvassing the job market now will give me any indication of what will be available because local governments don’t really recruit on CareerBuilder. They usually recruit on their own sites and on government specific job sites. I can put myself in a better position by making friends with government headhunters or with local government managers in the area or that already work in organizations that interest me. It makes more sense for me to tell them that I’m interested in moving and working in Denver/Tempe/wherever and beg them to keep me (and my resume) in mind. (I’m already starting to work on strengthening my network in the mid and southwest)

We did have a giggle at my ability to get jobs just by expressing interest and asking for an informational interview. So often when talking to potential employers, I start by saying, I’m Monica. I’m an MPA student at UNC and I’m interesting in learning more about what you do. Can I come by and talk to you? During the interview, if I like what I hear, I give them my pitch. I tell them how I can help them with whatever problem/issue/new development they are having. I’ve gotten at least two of my last jobs that way

And even if having informational interviews doesn’t get me a job, it still gives me one more person to add to my network.

 

What does your high school clique say about you?

Was just reading this article about how your high school persona affects the industry you work in and your salary range.

Their categories included:

• Cheerleaders
• Jocks
• Geeks
• Student Government
• Teachers Pets
• Honor Society
• Drama Club
• Class Clowns

CareerBuilder, in a survey, found that cheerleaders were more likely than any other group to be a vice president of a company. Teachers pets and student government members are more likely to be directors or team leads. Geeks tend to work in engineering or retail and class clowns seem to gravitate more to manufacturing.

They also found that honor society members and student government members (ie: overachievers) were more likely to make six figures; more specifically, almost 50% of these groups make $50,000 or more. (Are we surprised by this, really?)

Hmmm, I don’t really fit into any of those categories. I was one of the uber-cool kids in the corner of the classroom making fun of the losers in class and cracking jokes about why everyone else sucked. Everyone wanted to sit on our side of the classroom. It was where all the fun happened. Teachers loved me; its funny how teachers don’t really mind if you are loud and a little disruptive if you make good grades and don’t mind helping others, and generally bring out the best in your classmates (yes, I’m tooting my own horn )

The eclectic, the unusual, the self-expressive all flocked to me and I loved it. I could be found chilling with the comic-book readers, the blue haired skateboarders, the artists, the readers, the Latin club kids (super-duper weirdos). Come to think about it, I collected all the people that didn’t fit in anywhere else and I was able to feel comfortable in disparate groups of people.

So maybe that says more than I think about how I ended up a misunderstood Philosophy major that could do anything and nothing. Maybe that’s why employers really want to hire me, they really like me, they know I’ll fit into their organization but they just weren’t sure where to put me.

Just maybe my high school persona has a little something to do with why I’m so interested in diversity and community building. Maybe I’ve being training my whole life to help people figure out where they belong and to create the space for everyone to be themselves-together.