1) I keep a document at work where every day I document what my "big" projects were during the day. For example, on March 7, I met with students on probation/warning and worked with a student who is returning after a long time out of school (she started when in 1997! her last semester was 2002!) to figure out her fastest route to graduation. Today I was frantically trying to figure out what I did all day and it seemed like the answer might be "a whole lot of nothing," but looking at my sent folder in email, it turns out that I spent the day emailing people questions.
I don't share this document with anyone, but if my boss asks what projects I've been working on, I can consult it. Do you keep a document like this or am I just desperately trying to justify my position?
2) Because of (incredibly boring) work reasons, I recently pulled out my college transcript, which I have handy because I was on the job market for a long time. I saw this
and got all hepped up all over again from grudges from the 1990s. I graduated from college with a GPA of 3.97 and the first two things you see on my undergrad transcript are a B (the only one I ever got in college) and a remedial English course. You GUYS. It's been more than a quarter of a century and I'm still livid. They couldn't have buried that B in amongst the As somewhere? The guy who taught that econ class STILL TEACHES AT MY ALMA MATER.
If you went to college, take a look at your transcript. It's a fun trip down memory lane. Also, I have some questions. I did an internship the summer of 1999 at then-U.S. Senator Mike DeWine's district office in Toledo and it ended up on my transcript as COOP 50 for ZERO credits with a grade of "S." Why even bother putting that on there?! I have so many questions. My program didn't require an internship and I did another internship in DC in the fall of 2000, so what was going on here? WHY?
3) I have a number of tchotchkes in my office. People buy me stuff and there's no place to put it in our house since I'm forbidden from putting things in the curio cabinet.
Why did Bestest Friend send me a green boot? I don't know, but I have an odd affection for it.
Anyway, I bring this up because about a decade ago Bestest Friend sent me a weird ceramic chicken.
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I thought it would be with all the other work tchotchkes, but I can not find my chicken and I'm heartbroken about the whole thing. My office is missing an element of insanity without this chicken.
4) For a variety of reasons (*ahem* the enrollment and demand cliffs *ahem*), our university has been reaching out to students who have some college credits, but did not earn a degree at our institution. This is a population of great concern because these students frequently have a fair amount of debt related to education, but without a degree, their economic mobility can be limited. As part of my job, I sometimes talk to these potential students to help them figure out what the fastest path is for them to graduate.
I've been working with a woman who needs 2-3 credits in a work experience to complete her minor to graduate. That's it. That's what she needs. But she doesn't want to do the work experience and so she's considering changing her minor entirely to avoid doing the work experience. But a new minor would be at least 12 credits, if not more!! WHY?!?!
5) I recently had a milestone anniversary at my current employer (ten years) and went to a program to celebrate it. (Look, my boss was celebrating her 25th anniversary and that's why I really went. She would have been IRATE if her crew wasn't there and I know this about her. She said "oh, no worries if you can't go," but what she meant was "you better be there and I better hear you screaming for me." I am nothing if not an astute judge of character.*) ANYWAY. The event was streamed and one of my friends was home sick that day and she sent me a screenshot of me and I laughed and laughed. Why am I walking like that? Sole first? What a weirdo.
*This is patently false, you all know this, right? I am absolutely oblivious to about 80% of social cues and customs and sometimes think I'm a robot. But I do know my boss well enough to know she likes to be celebrated. And since I like to celebrate, who am I to not go to a celebratory event?
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Do you have knickknacks in your office? Do you have a favorite one? Do you have a college or high school transcript that you have questions about?
You are smart to keep a "what I did today" list. It's one of those things that real adults are supposed to do so that they have something to look back on for performance reviews, etc. I should but have never done this, I think because I don't want to know what I do each day...mentally I feel like I'm better off having it all be a blur.
ReplyDeleteMy equivalent of your B was in my first semester of high school. I was a straight A student...except for Art of all things. The teacher gave me a C because I was...wait for it...average. I got so many question about what my "problem" was in art. Sigh.
I don't know why bestest friend gave you a green boot but that's what bestest friends do! I'm obsessed myself. My office knickknack collection is: a Rubix cube, a small clock that an old boss gave me that has a special battery so currently it only tells the correct time twice a day, and a metal ruler that is decorated to look like a dollar bill.
My "what I did today" list for last week was a blank. It was so slow, I just wrote "quiet - spring break" and mentally rewarded myself for watching lots of videos about Microsoft Excel.
DeleteWe were joking with one of our student workers. He has all As and one A- and my boss was asking him if he held a grudge against that professor and the student worker (bless his sweet heart) was quite offended: Of course not, Dr. B taught me so much! So some of us are overachievers who hold grudges and others are genuinely nice people.
My husband also has a clock that he got for getting tenure that stopped working approximately three months after he received it. He keeps it on his desk as a reminder of how much our employer appreciates him. LOL.
I don't keep knickknacks but my daughter does (that is the understatement of the century). I bought some clear glass canisters and she just puts the assortment of things in there and they're so fun and whimsical on her shelf! Plus, every few weeks she dumps them out and plays with the various odds and ends. I need to do the same for my son's room because he's getting more into the "keep everything" phase...
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing at Birchie having a clock that only tells the correct time twice a day. I love it :)
Oh the B's. So I had two B's on my university transcript. A B+ in Calculus. I earned that B. I bombed the final. I hated Calculus. It sucked, but it was better than a D. But the one that really, really hurts was B- in Canadian culture. The tests were a sham, the professor was a variety of unsavoury words. I contest that B- heartily and, ironically, we were JUST talking about this mark last night around the dinner table. What really got my goat was that the next year he changed the format of the course, and one of my friends (who - how do I say this kindly - wasn't the smartest kid in the boat) got an A+ in the course and went on and on about how easy the tests were etc. That made it hurt even more. PLUS, our university gave an award to any student who had only A's (which, as you can imagine, was quite rare). I would have retaken Calculus to try to get an A but there were no way I was retaking Canadian culture with that hooligan. Can you tell I am still a wee bit angsty about the whole thing???
Hahaha! The smartest kid in the boat!? Do people say that or did you just make it up! I have heard sharpest knife in the kitchen, or sharpest tool in the shed, but...the boat!? :)
DeleteI had As in the entire calculus sequence, but I had a superior teacher my first year and rearranged my entire schedule around his class from that point on. A teacher can really make a difference. I love the idea that you would go back to your undergrad institution to contest the B-!! DO IT!! And then report back what the reaction is, especially if you use the word hooligan in your complaint.
DeleteI've never heard smartest kid in the boat, either. Is it a Canadianism?
Nah. I just made it up.
DeleteLet's make it a thing!
DeleteI like your little knickknacks! I have a few things on the shelves in our home office that yoga students have given me, or, in the case of the wooden moose that you can supposedly put candy in and move their tail to have it "poop" out, that the boys made when they were in junior high shop class. (we have never put candy in them, but I treasure them because they made them!). A friend gave me a trio of frogs doing yoga postures, and I display those in my kitchen because I love them so much.
ReplyDeleteI think it sounds like you have just the right amount of whimsy spread about your home!
DeleteThat one person certainly had a big gap in her schooling. I wonder how she finds the present situation compares to the past. Does she find it more challenging or less so. I ask because I teacher i knew went on sabbatical and they set up a special timetable for him since they said he wouldn't be able to keep up. It was a competitive course at a competitive uni.
ReplyDeleteYour knickknacks are very, VERY cute, but my parents are collectors and they have a LOT of tchotchkes and I had to clean the house and dust when I was growing up and there is just too many things. The rooster is cute, and my Dad actually "collects" roosters, aka someone gave him one and then someone else gave him one and now he has dozens. I am going to have to do something with all those roosters when my parents pass away and I would prefer to not have to (but it will be me, as my brother is a great person, but that is not as much his wheelhouse). I definitely have some sort of PTSD from all of the knickknacks in my life! (also as I think I mentioned to you before, my grandma has one of those houses where you can barely cut a path to the bathroom sometimes).
ReplyDeleteIt has been a while since I looked at my transcripts, but I definitely did not get all As. My worst one was Physics II, which I got a C in, and was VERY happy to get that C. The class was horrible, the professor did not care if nobody understood, and I think the top grade on many of the exams was ~ 60%. I hated that class, although I love the idea of physics and learning how things work! I had to get a C or better in that class for my major and man did I work for that C.
Oh, I feel you so hard. My mom is a legitimate hoarder and you'll notice my collection is pretty small. If I don't really love something, I do get rid of it. I do not want someone to have to go through all my junk when I die and feel bad about anything going into a dumpster.
DeleteI took Physics in high school and NEVER AGAIN. I could do all the math, but I never understood why I was doing it. It was the worst, so I am so sorry you had to go through that in college!
Yeah, I can only imagine how much a "B" would hurt. I don't have any because I didn't have gen.ed. requirements in undergrad, and could do things like literature and history and things I loved and aced. Calc would have killed me.
ReplyDeleteLove your tchotchkes.
You interned for Mike DeWine?!?! He was a neighbor when we lived in Yellow Springs! When he visited the middle school, At and their friends asked questions about "gay marriage" (this would have been in 2010/11) and surreptitiously recorded him.
I thought calculus was fun, for the most part. There was a bit of calc 2 when I thought my head my explode, but I had a good teacher, so it was a good time.
DeleteI did intern for Mike DeWine. I never met him, though, and most of my work was compiling information, making copies, and delivering materials to random county fair booths. I don't really think of it very much except for when we run out of good mugs and I use a US Senate mug I got at the end of my internship. I think DeWine is a genuine good man who does not hold all the same beliefs I do.
I do keep a work tracker! Mostly for my own reference, though sometimes there is a question of "who did the X report" and I can see at a glance if it was me. I do use the numbers to total how many reports I worked on, when it's annual review time, but that's mostly because you have to write SOMEthing on those darned self-assessments. I don't think my boss really cares about the exact number!
ReplyDeleteYes! I don't know if I'll have to do an assessment at this job or not, but if I do, I would like to be prepared with some day. This is the way to have an easy start.
DeleteI miss my in-office knickknacks! When they took my desk in January, I lost my place for them - so, my at home desk is now a bit of a jumble. I have been carrying a favorite worry stone, fidget, and a mini-dragon figurine back and forth (but they really are for self-confidence haha). I have a running OneNote work tracker that I use because my responsibilities are across 2 divisions and just really weird in terms of cadence and/or who I might need to explain them to; I also have tabs for what my direct reports are working on / concerned about, how to pronounce colleagues' names, and fun facts about folks I regularly work with that they share in icebreakers (an actual small talk save the day thing for me haha).
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked from home, all my knickknacks were just stored in a tote in the basement. So sad! I don't like to think about what will happen to them if I don't have an office.
DeleteOh, I can see why keeping track would be crucial for you to be able to say how much time is allocated to each divisions. So much confusion.
I used to have a ton of doodads on my desk in my classroom. Lots of them provided my Creative Writing students some fidget therapy/entertainment during writing conference time with me. Many, many of them were gifts from students. I loved them.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved to our Brand New School, the rule was NOTHING ON DESKS BUT THE COMPUTER AND MONITOR. No personal things of any kind. AT. ALL. It was awful and terrible. (And nothing on the walls, either. Some sort of warranty or something, we were told.)
I hope you find your Personality Chicken. I love it!
Nothing on the desk or the walls!! That sounds terrible. And sad. And not a great way to have a classroom!!
DeleteI haven't seen my transcript in ages but I think it would bring back all the feels to look at it - so maybe I'll avoid! It took me a while to see the B on yours - all I saw was the Deans List standing! Funny how our brains work.
ReplyDeleteYour work spreadsheet is a great idea and I 100% need to do this when I get back to work. I hate not knowing what I've done in work and I think it would make reviews and even weekly or monthly manager catch ups so much easier.
Congrats on 10 years!!
Ha ha. I guess I always think of college as good times, but I can see how for some people it maybe wasn't. Don't look at it if it's going to bring you down.
DeleteOh boy, my college transcript... it's not pretty. I don't want to look back.
ReplyDeleteYour job sounds really rewarding, in theory at least. I guess it would be frustrating to be trying to help people who aren't doing their part to improve their situations. But it sounds like you have the opportunity at least to help people out.
That picture of you is kind of funny, ha ha. It looks a little like you were marching, which I doubt was actually the case.
Yes, it does look like I was marching! Why am I walking like that? It's a mystery for the ages.
DeleteI always have a lava lamp on my desk. It's a tradition dating back many jobs. If nothing else, it's a great conversation starter!
ReplyDeleteOh, I bet it would be. I've never seen a lava lamp in an office!
DeleteI have a few knick knacks at my desk and they have zero rhyme or reason, aside from being sentimental. Congrats on ten years and maybe you were squishing a bug? KIDDING!
ReplyDeleteWe were all trying to figure out how they came to the number. I was sitting next to someone who had been working on and off for the university since 2002 and she was trying to figure out if her here and there work had added up to ten years. It was fun to do the math!
DeleteI had so much more knick-knacks when I worked in an office! And a whole drawer with Christmas decorations (I know you're surprised).
ReplyDeleteThe best grade I ever got in college was a C- I got for pre-calc. I was SO, SO happy to have passed that class that I didn't care that it was by the skin of my teeth. That class was a nightmare for me. (I also took it my first semester of college and I was so homesick that I would sit in class and cry, so... that's fun.)
I started keeping a list that I now update at the end of every month with everything I've done so I can have a record of it for performance reviews. Doing it weekly might even be better since I usually have to look back at my calendar and emails to see what exactly I did, lol.
You are not alone in your math issues. It's a really common sticking point for students. You SHOULD be proud of that grade!!
DeleteYou know what? You're probably right that I should be doing my record weekly instead of daily. LOL.
I do not have knickknacks at work. I have always made it my aim to have as little as possible so I could pack up and leave at a moment's notice if I lost my job... but that is kind of how people operate in the finance industry. I did finally bring in some pictures of my boys this fall, though. That is the only personal effect that I have in my cube!
ReplyDeleteI am sure my transcript is in my file box but I haven't looked at it or used it since apply to MBA programs. It is NOT something that would ever be requested if I were to change jobs. I know it shows that I withdrew from a racketball class, though. I thought it might be fun to do my first semester but all the students were men who did not take my ability into account and would CREAM me. And then I got chronic tonsilitis so I dropped the class after the drop date. So I'll forever have that incomplete on my transcript... but oh well. My GPA was 3.63 which I am pretty proud of since I was a math major. So I graduated with honors. I also had as many as 3 jobs at a time so that makes me extra proud of my GPA. I had to maintain a 3.25 for my scholarship which I did stress out about at times but ended up easily achieving.
Honestly, all the personal effects in my office could be packed in one tote, so I think it's okay. If they fired me and walked me out, I would be just fine. :)
DeleteI had to send transcripts for almost every job I applied for, actually. I wonder if it's field dependent or what. I just have a copy of my unofficial transcript in my Google Drive now, so it's not a big deal. I had a math minor, so I took all the same classes as a math major minus a handful, so I know how hard that major is! I think we probably had similar undergrad experiences - I had a job and a volunteer role, had a scholarship (by the time I was a senior, my GPA still had to be a 3.75 to keep it!), and it was stressful, but super rewarding.
Oh, gosh, I don't know where my transcripts are! I remember my lowest grade was in microbiology. Those of you who took college math have my undying admiration. Ha. And, no tchotchkes for me, please. I have one - a DNA slinky that I adore. Well, and remnants of the tenure "celebration" that scattered confetti, balloons, and chocolate around my office. ;)
ReplyDeleteWell, you took college-level science beyond "this is a fossil" and these are the biological kingdoms (want to hear my "joke" that is dismissive of the field of biology? the whole field is basically about categorizing things - living things, parts of a cell, etc.), so you're way ahead of me in the STEM world!!!
DeleteI most definitely have a "what I did today" document... because I need to document my work progress for my performance reviews and it's always better to have "tangible" items on a list than just general ideas of what I did on " projects x, y, and z". So kudos for you for keeping track!
ReplyDeleteThis is a reminder that I haven't touched that document in a week. *sigh* I'll do it first thing tomorrow!
Delete