Endurance.....

.....so, to the month, it's been 10 years since I started in the field I'm currently working in. I had moved to Utah in July of 1998. I saved around $1200 to come here and "live" off of until I could find a job. I lived in my Aunt's basement while looking for a job and a more permanent place to stay. I spent the first month living here not really sure what I wanted to do for work. I had done mostly manual labor stuff, but I really wanted to get out of that line of work and be "someone important" if that makes any sense. I wanted to start looking into business-type stuff, but I had no idea where to start.

As Alene and I sat in the hot tub last night, we were talking about experience with job interviewing. I found it kind of funny that I hadn't considered the fact that there was such a thing as "experience gained" while interviewing for a job. I just assumed you go in, you answer questions, then you leave. I've recently learned that there is a preparation side to it all and that basically every company asks the same questions.

When I moved here, I did interview for a phone customer service job with a credit card company. It was pretty cool and exciting to be a part of that company because they were growing so quickly and everyone was being promoted right and left. I started in late August of 1998. A part of our job requirement was to "sell" products at the end of the call (stuff to add on to your credit card like insurance and other scams). One month I was one of the top 3 in our whole site (close to 800 people) in add-on sales and I just figured it was only time before I'd be promoted to a team assistant, then maybe a team supervisor and the sky was the limit.

However, after about 2.5 months or so I started to dread the life of coming in and sitting at your computer for 8 hours, being tied down to a phone. I noticed a job posting for "facilities coordinator" for our company. I figured it wouldn't hurt to inquire. I asked the manager about the position and he said it covered a broad-range of things like simply helping to set up a meeting, to helping with managing a construction project. I was intrigued at the time because I could tell it was a job that required knowledge and ability to do manual labor, but it wasn't necessarily a part of the job.

I applied, interviewed, and was turned down for the job (they hired a GIRL of all people :) ). I had given up on that idea pretty quickly. I just figured the manager didn't like me. A month or so goes by and it's December. I'm getting really tired of the phone job and my stats start slacking really bad. late December rolls around and I'm walking to my car. The girl they hired over me stops me in the parking lot and said they were opening up another position to add to the department and she though I should re-apply. I was stoked that she would go to that length to tell me about it. We hadn't said more than 2 words to each other prior to that. I interviewed for the job and close to New Years Day, I was told I was accepted. It even came with a plus 10% raise (I went from a whopping $9/hr to $10/hr). I started just after New Years in 1999.

I worked my tail off that whole year. I eventually found out the girl that was hired before me was hired because of her skill-set with security (she was an Army reservist and had some background in security stuff), so that was her main responsibility within the department. I was the "manual labor" guy, but it wasn't too bad or dirty for me. Still, I wanted to prove myself capable and by the end of the summer our department added many more people and we needed to create a manager position as kind of a go-between between the coordinators and my boss, who had other responsibilities within the bank. My boss said I should apply. I did and I was promoted to manager over the team of coordinators. The promotion came with a 25% raise. I was so excited and felt like I had "made it" in some ways over the course of the year I had lived in Utah.

Things were going really well. Just after that Caiden was born, but I was having serious marriage issues already and that was soon affecting my job performance in some ways. I was sometimes late to work (my boss was pretty adamant on being on time to the minute). I maintained my job still and I continued to learn a lot though.

Eventually I started to consider school and what to do with my life. My boss had started off at a community college, then transferred his credits to the University of Phoenix. I thought the idea of school being one night a week for 4 hrs, then another night a week with your study group as a pretty neat thing for your schedule. I went there and applied and started pretty quickly.

I was going to be a business major. I wasn't quite sure which area, but I was considering Business Administration (which is what my boss had done). After 4-5 classes though, my marriage broke apart and I took a hiatus from school. I had to get a second job to make ends meet on my own. I had kind of given up on school and had no idea when I would return. After a while my boss had left the company, so I was kind of "given" his job with all the additional responsibility and no pay increase. In fact, things got so bad for the company that I went 2 years without a pay raise.

In the Summer of 2002 I had figured out a way for me to be able to go back to school. By then I started considering what I really loved and decided I wanted to major in History and teach. My friends at work convinced me to enroll at SLCC and get my associates there. My good friend Damon had just finished his there and was going to Weber State to get his degree in Criminal Justice. He said SLCC was easy because it was close by and fairly cheap compared to a university. I enrolled there and started off going full-time. I was able to xfer 15 credits from my university of Phoenix days and I was excited about being able to finish off my Associates Degree, then decide what to do from there.

That Fall, however, it was announced that my company we worked for was going to close up shop here in Utah. They laid everyone off, but gave us a good 6 weeks notice as to when the last day would be (it could have been worse, like some companies that just put a lock on the door with a note saying "good luck"). They gave us all 8 weeks severance, paid out our vacation AND, if we had accrued any sabbatical pay (they offered a paid sabbatical) they paid that out too. Here was the great part though: A new company was interested in buying a portion of our business and setting up in the same building, although on a smaller scale (one floor as opposed to 5 floors). They needed a facility manager, but that would be it (no coordinators or people working under me). I interviewed with my current boss and was offered the job at my same pay. From there I grew into my position more and learned a ton. It's been 7 great years and as I stated in my previous post, I'm moving onto a new job, but I really am going to miss this job and those I work with.

I'm getting off track (this post was supposed to be about school). Over the first few semesters at SLCC, with full-time school, work changes, and having Caiden part of the time, I burned myself out pretty quickly. Along the way I failed 3-4 classes, didn't go at all during some semesters, re-took the failed classes, and here I am, almost 7 years later, finally taking my last class at SLCC. I know it sounds lame to know that it took me 7 years to get a stupid Associates, but I'm still going to be proud of it. I know I could have done better, but I should be able to pull off close to a 3.0 GPA when it's all said and done. That is better than what I finished with in high school (closer to a 2.5 while taking non-challenging classes), so despite failing classes and re-taking them, I know I've actually applied myself on a higher level.

The last class I'm taking is Math 1030. I just don't like Math and I'm trying my best to endure it. So far I'm staying on task, although I did miss one class because I just "forgot" I had class. My classes are on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8:30pm to 10pm, so it's easy to forget when you have a class that late. Google Calendar and their SMS reminders are a great thing now :).

I'm really not sure where I'm going to go from here. I do think it's important to further your education as much as possible and as much as needed. In my field of work, there are always things that would be good to learn and know about. I'm going to give a lot of attention to my new job, then this summer sometime, explore areas of my job where education could help it and maybe finish off my bachelors in that area. I still want to teach History someday, but I think that will be more for my retirement years, or at least my near-retirement years. I'm not in a rush to get all that taken care of. Right now I'm just excited for this new phase in my life and my career and I'm going to make the most of it.