Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

Dec. 14 A Work Fridge

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Yet again, this is something I thought I had surely written about. Having a fridge at work is something I can’t imagine living without. Whether I’m bringing my lunch on any given day or keeping an extra stash of fruit or beverages for anytime snacking, it’s a must.

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Dec. 8 Not Job Hunting

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

I have been rejoicing over this one for some time now. Let’s be honest: I’ve had five jobs in the past five years. There are very specific reasons for that – for one, the semi-normalcy of job-hopping in D.C. If this were a job interview, I would explain. But it’s not, and I’m thankful. ;)

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Nov. 15 Office Climate Control

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Fall is my favorite season. Usually there’s a crisp chill in the air, but this week has been mild, even warm. It makes me extra-thankful that I can control the temperature in my office. Some days I turn on the heat; others, the air conditioning.

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Oct. 7 A Family of Co-Workers

Friday, October 7th, 2011

The person who had my job before me (he moved away) came to visit today. He was greeted with big hugs and joyful shouts from my colleagues. I love that my department is like that.

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Sept. 14 Editing

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

I work full-time as an editor, but that’s not why I’m thankful for it today. I’m thankful for having other people edit my work. (Unfortunately, this blog is not edited; otherwise, it would be 397 times better.)

I had a couple of people give me feedback on something I was writing this week, and it really opened my eyes to things I had left out or that could be misinterpreted by a reader. Objectivity is priceless.

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July 31 Internships

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

A colleague from another organization was telling me about his summer interns. Unfortunately, his organization’s policy is not to publish intern work with a stand-alone byline. I’m so thankful for the journalism internships I had where I got to do real work. Getting thrown into the deep end may not be fun at first, but there’s no substitute for real responsibility.

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July 29 The Office Candy Jar

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Having a candy jar on one’s desk serves at least two purposes. It provides a nice place to hold treats, and it brings colleagues in for a chat.

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July 20 Mentors

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

I just finished a lame mentorship experience.

I signed up to “mentor” a couple of students who were interning in D.C. for the summer – not with my organization, but through another program. Though I filled out a questionnaire with my career info, to my dismay they did not match me with journalism students. One of them was a chemical engineering major, for crying out loud.

Now, if these lovely girls happen to be reading this, you weren’t the lame ones. I just didn’t know what to do for you, really. We had only a few brief meetings, not that kind of extended life-on-life contact that I believe good mentorship requires. So, it was basically us trying to be as non-awkward as we could be.

I’m thankful to have had some amazing mentors over the years in different areas of life.

Who’s one of your great mentors? What did he/she teach you?

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June 25 Looking Forward

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

I made some plans with a colleague for October. And it occurred to me that 1) I expect to be working at my current job then, and 2) I WANT to be working at my current job then. This is a fantastic combination.

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June 23 Being a Resource

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

I went to a networking reception tonight. The mere mention of “networking” probably makes many people cringe. And yes, sometimes these functions are more grin-and-bear-it than anything. But this one was filled with eager, interested students. They wanted to hear about internship opportunities in D.C., and they were genuinely interested in hearing about my experiences. Their enthusiasm made me happy to share what I could with them and point a few of them toward organizations I thought they might find interesting.

Networking is one of those what-goes-around-comes-around areas of life. Many people helped me when I was a student, and it’s a blessing to be able to pass that along. (I was going to say “to the next generation,” but hopefully I’m not quite that old yet. ;) )

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