Monday, May 17, 2010

Working and Interning

It has been a BUSY past few days!

Training for my new job at Chipotle began last Saturday, and it's already shaping up to be my favorite job. I LOVE the people there, and while I may not be making as much money as I was at Friendly's, I'm so much happier. Our training basically consisted of us rolling burritos for HOURS, but somehow it was fun, the managers are SO nice (I actually consider myself friends with one of them, something I'd never thought I'd say), and the atmosphere is just basically great. I'm so much happier now, I actually enjoy going to work.

My job is an incredibly diverse group of people, but they're all great. One of my favorite people there is Queen, a late thirty (maybe early forty)-something-year-old woman who calls her bosom her "treasure trove." She doesn't carry a purse, but instead keeps all her money and belongings in her bra with the warning to potential pickpockets that they can "reach on in there if they really wanna."

I appreciate the training Friendly's gave me. Some of the people who have never worked in a restaurant before were amazed at how much cleaning we did, but I more than expected it. A manager actually told me I was doing a great job, and it was so nice just to be reinforced. I never got that kind of positive encouragement at Friendly's and I worked just as hard.

ANYWAY, my internship at the Journal Inquirer also started today. Which was...interesting. My first assignment was to give a preview of the Enfield Memorial Day Parade, and about 20 minutes after my interview with the organizor and the mayor, I deleted all my notes. Awesome. My boss told me that it happens to everyone, but I still couldn't believe I made such a grievous mistake so early. I have to call everyone back tomorrow.

To make up for it I got some great interviews for my next story, which was covering a Bluegrass Concert meant to raise donations for the Safe Net Commission, a non-profit that accepts food donations for the hungry in the Stafford Springs area. Talking to the reverend who organized the whole thing was so inspiring. It made me realize that some people are just altruistic to be good people. He completely did not have to do this, but he took it upon himself to bring the idea to his own area (which, by the way, he was completely new to) and he was so nice about answering all my questions. Then, the lady at Safe Net i spoke to insisted that all the credit be given to him and her name not even be mentioned! It was so heartwarming.

Tomorrow is going to be even busier, because I have my internship and then I go straight to work. Busy, Busy! I like it though, i'm so bored at home.

Have a super night.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bye Bye, UConn

Well, my last exam is tomorrow and then it's goodbye to UConn. Every time summer rolls around I get a little sad. I LOVE school to death, and summer just isn't the same. I don't have that friends at home that some other people have because I didn't go to public school, so summer to me equals working, interning, and hanging out with parents a lot. I go out, but I just miss school so much when I'm there and it's not the same.

Two weekends ago was the infamous spring weekend here, and this picture pretty much sums it up.

Yup, a little messy. But amazingly fun. Saturday I had to wake up and play Oozeball, which is basically a weird form of volleyball in the mud. Seriously, your feet are submereg about 8 inches in a goopy muddy mess. My friends went balls-out for it, so I barely touched the ball.

On Monday I realized my team was in the paper. This picture also pretty much sums up how it went down. I stood on the side and looked bored, while the guys went nuts. I still had a great time, but hey, it was spring weekend and I was ready to continue with the festivities, not sit around in the mud all day.

This year was such a series of ups and downs. I broke up with my boyfriend, experienced the wonderfulness of being single, got seriously into running, and am learning to accept who I am. Yeah, my grades weren't stellar this semester, but classes were hard and I had so much fun. I definitely would not take back any of this year because I met so many new people and made so many amazing friends. Living in an apartment next year is going to be amazing, but I'll miss this dorm a lot. I'm making myself sad just thinking about leaving.