"In the adult wold, there is no easy." -Nicolas Cage
Professionally, I finally, finally got vested at work as of Feb 1st. This has been my ongoing goal at work for at least the last 2.5 years (once I reached the halfway point) for classified staff at the UW. There was no big party, no acknowledgement, just another day at work, but for one that was a major milestone for me. On one level I feel I may have just wasted 5 years of my life, just getting by, but not doing work that was particularly meaningful, but it was important to me because of my impovershed family background. At this time, my mother is beginning to enter her late 50's with zero retirement planning and total fear about the future. One of my other goals in life has just been to learn from her mistakes.
Besides a grad school program that I am applying to this year (which seems like a long-shot for me to get in) I'm trying to figure out what to do next in my work life. Thinking about it just makes me tired beyond belief and realize how much I just need a break and to take a vacation. There is no vacation, just more work. All I'm really doing is looking for and trying to figure out what I can do that equals a living wage and more meaningful work. I'm trying to be more outgoing and network and make myself known, as I can sometimes be invisibly shy and withdrawn. What I've found so far is that nobody, not even UW "HR Specialists," OD&T or people that have worked here forever can give me any real, substantive advice. There is really nothing in the way of an "internal employee development program here" which is more than a little odd for such a major operation as the UW. (OK, this is turning into a rant (so I copied it from an email to a friend here for futher permutation.)
What do I really want to do? Be an employed, not a freelance writer. Work as a public info specialist for the UW or elsewhere, work in PR, Publishing or as a librarian (hence the grad school). I have actually been making micro strides in this area through volunteer work, informational interviews with people actually doing this stuff, subscriptions to career information list-serves, writing for publication here and elsewhere. Currently, I am working on a small, local film project for Jon Ra Films in Tacoma, with a production schedule set in mid-March. All this while working full time at a State Agency and as a mom, single, with a child about to enter...middle school, and I'm only 32. A rare "early breeder" Gen-X, (which through experience, without vast amounts of money and/or family support, I wouldn't recommend to a woman in general who is in their early 20's, but I digress). If this blog seems uncomfortably existential, it is because I've fully realized the subject line above.
The topic here remains, how to forge a meaningful professional identity out of the ashes of a State civil servent job. How does one get from here to there?
Besides a grad school program that I am applying to this year (which seems like a long-shot for me to get in) I'm trying to figure out what to do next in my work life. Thinking about it just makes me tired beyond belief and realize how much I just need a break and to take a vacation. There is no vacation, just more work. All I'm really doing is looking for and trying to figure out what I can do that equals a living wage and more meaningful work. I'm trying to be more outgoing and network and make myself known, as I can sometimes be invisibly shy and withdrawn. What I've found so far is that nobody, not even UW "HR Specialists," OD&T or people that have worked here forever can give me any real, substantive advice. There is really nothing in the way of an "internal employee development program here" which is more than a little odd for such a major operation as the UW. (OK, this is turning into a rant (so I copied it from an email to a friend here for futher permutation.)
What do I really want to do? Be an employed, not a freelance writer. Work as a public info specialist for the UW or elsewhere, work in PR, Publishing or as a librarian (hence the grad school). I have actually been making micro strides in this area through volunteer work, informational interviews with people actually doing this stuff, subscriptions to career information list-serves, writing for publication here and elsewhere. Currently, I am working on a small, local film project for Jon Ra Films in Tacoma, with a production schedule set in mid-March. All this while working full time at a State Agency and as a mom, single, with a child about to enter...middle school, and I'm only 32. A rare "early breeder" Gen-X, (which through experience, without vast amounts of money and/or family support, I wouldn't recommend to a woman in general who is in their early 20's, but I digress). If this blog seems uncomfortably existential, it is because I've fully realized the subject line above.
The topic here remains, how to forge a meaningful professional identity out of the ashes of a State civil servent job. How does one get from here to there?
