5. Starting the new job the next work day after I leave the old job.
4. Finding a place to live AFTER starting the new job.
3. Moving in somewhere with a commute longer than 20 minutes.
2. Making a lateral move professionally.
1. Moving to a larger city.
Tag Archives: work
Only Tuesday
It’s only Tuesday, but it already feels like it’s too late to say much about the past weekend and whatnot.
Since I left you last, I had a busy work week starting to get caught up from vacation, and then we went rafting up in the greater Crivitz area over the weekend. It was fun. Frankly, I’m too tired to say much more about it right now. I just looked at the date when I last posted something here and thought that I should write a little something anyway.
Michelle drove my car in to work yesterday. It was her first time driving my car by herself. She did just fine. I told her that this means she has to get a manual for her next automobile.
Finally, I was late to work this morning because my landlord had me parked in to the driveway. I know that I’ve been taking the bus and leaving the car there all day, but you never know when I’m going to change that plan, y’know? *sigh* I think it’s going to be a long year in ‘tosa.
Don't Really Remember
Hey, I’ve got a busy week, with moving in, busting ass at work, and trying to get ready for a week-point-five road trip all at the same time. I slept in my new apartment for the first time last night, and it was good to be back in my bed. I think I sleep the best there. The bus ride on route 21 is OK; it’s definitely a little quicker than riding through downtown. I’ve been able to get a chapter or so of my book down each way.
The thing that I don’t really remember, though, is this:
If you and I are friends, how exactly did that happen? Do you remember anything about the process? I’ve come to the realization recently that the friends I have at present are so scattered, I’m coming up really short on them in the town where I live. I feel like I would benefit from getting some new ones (possibly local), but I just don’t remember how to do that.
That led me to thinking how I got the friends that I have, and a lot of you I’ve known so long, I really can’t come up with an effective means of duplicating whatever process we went through. It’s troubling.
The Financial Aid Experience In a Nutshell
I have a feeling that in years past, the position that I have at the university (financial aid administrator) was a pretty cake spot. You help kids fill out forms, you do some calculations, you hand out some checks (this is a rough approximation of how things worked, based on my conversations with older colleagues).
It’s definitely not like that anymore. I could see myself burning out on this job in the next 12-18 months because you can’t say to a kid, “I know that that loan is not enough. I know that the money they say your parents can contribute isn’t there. I know you can’t get a loan from a bank on your own, and I understand that you will be imprisoned by debt for the next 20 or 30 years even if someone helps you to secure one. What can we do for you besides hand out loans? Nothing. You are screwed.”
This is not uncommonly The Truth for people that I talk to, and as a relatively compassionate individual who wants to help the other humans, it’s infinitely frustrating for me. What am I supposed to say instead? How can I, from my position, initiate change? Even if they could create other government-funded programs, where is that money going to come from? How do we fix this?
When the Higher Education Act of 1965 was signed by Lyndon Johnson, it was intended to (and to a great extent, did) allow people who would not normally have access to higher education strictly because of prohibitive cost into that arena. The effect? Universities are no longer the realm of white-male-upper class only.
But people are falling into the margins again. I meet with students every week who are choosing between going to college or supporting their families. Even more, this is an area where Great Pinch of the Middle-Class rears its head– you are well-off enough to not necessarily be living paycheck-to-paycheck, and your parents probably could help you get a loan, but there is no way you can do this WITHOUT a loan, and free money is just not available. The folks that I see getting by are:
- both extremely poor AND academically strong, or
- in the military, or
- among the top 1-3% in academic performance
It is a depressing scenario to contemplate, and I find it extremely unsettling that what I have to say to students more often than not is, “go find some way to get a loan.” I am a living example of the financial prison that is educational debt.
I’m not saying that I always made the best choices about money when I was in college, and I don’t want to imply that I don’t deserve to be paying back what I’m paying back. But just 10 years later, even students who ARE smarter, and will work harder, and have a better idea of what they’re getting into, now lack a choice. If you want a degree, you have to pay for it.
And I don’t know if that’s fair.
Illegible
Which is more impressive– living to 218 years, or giving birth at 200 years?
An Open Letter to Financial Aid Applicants
Dear Students,
The weather is beautiful. Please go outside and enjoy it. Stop calling me. Life is too short to spend your summer worrying about how you’re going to pay for classes in the fall.
I have tons of work to do already. Your inquiries are not helping me get things done.
Thanks,
Jason
The Point of Ignorance
In my experience, starting a new job is marked by a number of distinct benchmarks, by which you can chart your progress (this is the leading trait that distinguishes “starting a new job” from “occupying a fledgling democracy in the Middle East”).
I have reached the Point of Ignorance this week, and I find that encouraging. This is a time during which you feel fairly comfortable with the people, procedures, and surroundings, because your co-workers or supervisors have voiced their assurance/confidence in you, and you’ve personally noted successes that lead you to think they’re correct.
However, there is a Major Screw-Up looming on the horizon, which you will be guilty of perpetrating due to your ignorance of a little-known procedural point or little-used policy. The event will remind you that, despite your confidence, it will take time to master all the nuances of this place, but at the same time, you will have the evidence of those minor successes that leave you with the notion that you CAN, in fact, adapt.
So I’ve gotten a lot done already this morning. Time to carry on with that.
My Problem, or Yours?
So pretty much right when I started working here, another one of the fin aid advisors is taking a new job in Madison (I thought about applying for that one, actually).
I was thinking about whether or not it would be nice to have another male come in to the fold and join our little ‘unit.’ I haven’t worked in a lot of places with other men. I don’t know what that says about me. The last one was WTMJ, and we all know how well that worked out (I don’t think it had anything to do with the gender make-up of the staff, though).
At UWO, my supervisor was a man, but he was kind of old enough to be my dad, and we didn’t have much in common. Plus, I don’t think it’s easy to be chummy with one’s boss.
Here, there are plenty of other men working in the department, but none directly in my ‘unit.’ The biggest thing that I differ from my immediate colleagues on is the length and depth to which situations and/or procedures should be examined/analyzed. I really appreciate having the least discussion necessary, and moving ahead with the solution or approach that makes the most sense. If it turns out that it doesn’t work, I look at it as a lesson for next time. I don’t feel like imagining every conceivable scenario in advance is always the best use of time.
While I would certainly appreciate another ‘male’ perspective on this and other topics, I also get a little apprehensive thinking about how I and the new man would be naturally expected to ‘get along,’ but that may not be the easiest thing for me. At times, I’ve been guilty of having a first impression of someone that is way off, and it gets awkward when I no longer want to associate later on, but enough time has elapsed that I’m ‘stuck.’ In relations with women, this is a lot easier to overcome, because it can simply be chalked up to “gender issues.” I dunno, this is probably just a personal anxiety issue. I have some problems.
Anyway, that’s what I’m working on today. I also need to try to figure out when/if I’m going to get some time off to move, and where I’m going to move to. I had some thoughts and conversations over the weekend that freaked me out about buying real estate again, but it still might be the best thing (as opposed to renting).
Oh, and this was interesting: I walked home from work to Jen & Joe’s on Friday. About 8 miles. It took me roughly 2-and-a-half hours.
Some Findings
Based on the research that I’ve conducted (which is more or less none), it appears that time passes more quickly the closer you are to the equator.
I swear, the days here @ UWM are passing a lot faster than they did in Oshkosh.
Any of you science-types out there care to substantiate this?
100% Paperless?
I was getting some work pushed through this morning, and I realized that there are times that trying to go “all-digital” is more trouble than it’s worth. I was scouring through the network share for a couple minutes, looking for a form, when finally I realized, “I could have been done with this if I just wrote it down on a piece of paper.”
I’m all about not having tons of paper sitting around the office, and I hate file drawers, chasing around for information, etc. But there are some simple things that a damned memo pad is still the best and easiest thing.
I wish the forms and the procedures manual at work were better organized. It would make things a lot easier. I don’t think that falls into my job description, though.
I’m working on setting up a time to take a look at a couple of the condos I saw listings for earlier in the week. I sent an email the mortgage dude at the bank and he suggested that I look at some properties that would be a little more expensive as well. I just don’t know. It seems like the numbers he sent me are within the range that *I* know I could afford for housing. Like I said to Michelle, it just makes me want to talk to lots more people about this before I make any decisions. Buying a house is sort of a big deal, right?
OK, well my lunch is just about over and I didn’t actually get to eat. The union was mobbed with new freshmen and their parents. Gotta love orientation. Say it with me: I’ll orient you in the FACE.