Secret New Years resolution is to blog twice a month...just barely making my deadline with this one! Blogs on the 1st and 30th...sorry readers, I'll try to do better.
My new catchphrase as of this month is "I wish I were still an ECD". From the time I started working at Aon in July 2011 until December 31st, 2012, I was part of a rotational early career development program. There were certainly some things I didn't love about it-lack of ownership, being called an intern...but along with that came little responsibility, and the responsibility I did have was short-term. The work hours were also a lot shorter. Now there is a list of 150+ things with my name as the owner and if they don't all happen on August 5th I'm in trouble! If I were still an ECD, I'd have rolled off the project in December or coming up in June and the outcome wouldn't matter so much, to me at least. It's definitely taken some getting used to, but it will be awesome to see the project through to the end, assuming it all works out okay.
Other than more responsibility at work, I've also taken on additional responsibilities with Big Shoulders Fund, the nonprofit board I'm involved with. I joined the auxiliary board last February and joined the schools committee. I was asked in December to take on a leadership role in the schools committee as the sub-committee chair for school involvement and mentors. My goal is to organize a group to attend events at 3 or more of our partner schools this year-something like a fundraiser, school play, or basketball game. I'm really excited about the additional responsibility and it puts me on track to take on greater leadership responsibilities in the group in the future.
I attended my first auxiliary board leadership meeting last week. The attendees included committee and subcommittee chairs and the auxiliary board executive leadership. Its a group of about fifteen mid-late 20 and early 30-somethings from all different backgrounds. Some currently or formerly worked in education (including a couple of TFA alums), others are in the financial industry, others in nonprofit organizations. Many have advanced degrees and others serve on several associate boards. Overall, a very well-connected, responsible, together group of people. The one thing that most of us seemed to be missing? Wedding rings. In fact there were 2 in the entire room.
Admittedly, this is a recent obsession of mine-seeing who is married (I know 10 people who got engaged in a 2 week span so forgive me for being highly observant). I noticed a similar trend in the sorority alumni group events I've attended in the past couple months. Lots of successful, well-adjusted women in the same age range (sorority girls even!). Lots of boyfriends, very few rings.
I feel like an anomaly all of a sudden. I've been slowly catching onto this idea for awhile, but its finally hitting me. Maybe it is weird that I'm a 24 year old woman who has a steady job with opportunities to advance yet relatively manageable work hours, I'm in a stable relationship with a pretty well-defined future, I live independently of my parents, I attend church most Sundays, I'm involved in many activities outside of work, I go the to gym regularly, I see my family at least once a month, I am preparing to go back to school, and I am at least progressing on the friend front. There has definitely been a lot less bar time in the past 8 months and maybe less free time than I'd ideally like, but its nothing that I didn't expect. I guess where I see myself in 5 or 10 years is in a very different place than my auxiliary board and alumni sorority sisters are right now. Granted, plans don't always work out that way which I'm slowly but surely learning about. Maybe in 5 years I'll be the one without the ring, piecing together odd jobs or working 60 hours a week. Or maybe I'll be in the complete opposite end deciding to put my career on hold to take care of my 2.5 children, dog, and cat in a house in a development in Joliet. Both of those thoughts make me shudder a little, although this article made my morning: http://www.thesuburbanjungle.com/15-tips-to-help-moms-survive-in-the-suburban-jungle
I'm not trying to hold judgement on anyone who is in a different place than I imagine myself to be in 5-10 years, but just wondering what I need to be doing differently now so that I continue to make progress towards where I want to be. I guess its just a new take on the classic "can I have it all?" question. Wonder what the answer will be for me!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
A Look Back at 2012
Because I'm an overachiever (okay, really because I like lists), I not only made New Year's Resolutions last year but also followed those up a list of objectives for self-improvement. Although I didn't necessarily give these all a lot of thought throughout the year, I did a pretty good job in what I set out to do. Lets see how I measure up!
New Years Resolutions:
1. Puke less than once a month from drinking too much-successful! Hasn't happened once since the night before Dan moved in, how nice! Not going to cigar club has certainly helped that resolution out quite a bit! Trying to learn to remember to eat dinner before I go out as well
2. Weigh 130lbs on December 31st-Well, this is my own ultimate failure. I will say that according to the healthcare test I did for work, I didn't gain, or lose, any weight this year. So it could be worse since living with Dan has definitely had a negative affect on the health of my diet. But, I'm trying to remind myself to be grateful for the body that I have because it has done amazing things for me this year--like finish 10 miles in the Chicago Perfect 10--something I never thought I'd be able to do!
3. Have $5000 in my general savings account on December 31st-Achieved and surpassed a little on my own, and a lot considering I sold my car yesterday as well. Now I get to spend some time figuring out how/where I want to invest the money to save for grad school, a down payment, or perhaps a wedding.
Objectives for Self-Improvement:
1. Effectively and efficiently complete 6 hours of work per day, 5 days a week- For those of you who know that I work 40 hour weeks, this probably seems a little suspicious. However, I will tell you that there was more than 1 week during my first rotation at Aon that I wasn't working even 1/4 of the time I should have been, which unfortunately isn't an all together uncommon experience in the ECD program, at least in IT. I am happy to say that despite a few dead weeks at the beginning of my second rotation, I have been much busier this past year and very happy for that!
2. Complete ITIL certification-this was a requirement (perhaps a loose requirement at best) for the ECD program which I am happy to say I completed at the end of August (or maybe beginning of September, don't really remember) this year!
3. Find 5 leadership opportunities both inside/outside of work- I surpassed this goal within months of making it, and didn't even have to try very hard to do so. This year I joined the alumni chapter of Alpha Chi Omega and took on the role of Assistant VP Programming. I also joined the Communications Committee at the Union League Club. I increased my role with the University of Richmond Alumni Recruitment Committee to serve as the Regional Co-coordinator after my friend Alison left the city for grad school. At work I created the IT development plan for the new ECD class alongside my mentor. My biggest leadership commitment in the past year and continuing on to next year though is through Big Shoulders Fund. I joined the Auxiliary Board in February and started participating in the schools committee right away. I also participated in 4 and led 2 of our Give Back Days which has been one of my favorite parts of Big Shoulders-and recruited 4 new participants for our October one! Next year I've been asked to serve as a sub-committee chair for volunteers and mentors as part of my committee and am also hoping to start a college counseling program in some of our high schools to encourage students to apply to more elite schools outside of the state like the University of Richmond.
4. Make 2 consistent new friends-definitely not one of my easiest goals but I think that meeting Colleen and Rachel this year allow me to check it off the list. Although Rachel and I haven't actually seen each other in literally months, we do gchat on almost a daily basis, since we're in similar fields we understand each other's work complaints like few others do! Colleen and I met at the Union League club and have spent a lot of time together in the past month-looking forward to more time together in 2013 as we train for the Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon (note: Colleen this means you have to do it!! Official because its in the blog!!)
5. Lose 15lbs-as discussed above, this did not happen. There's always next year, haha
6. Become more disciplined-eh, questionable for sure. But one thing I did this year which really helped me understand myself was doing a short course (for lack of better word through church) called Strengths for the Journey. In this I retook a Gallup administered strengths test which I took as part of a leadership conference my junior year of college. As part of a small group through St. Clements Church, we discussed our strengths through more of a Catholic lens. My top strengths were as follows: focus, learner, analytical, responsibility, input. If nothing else, this exercise assured me that I'm in the right career path, haha. No people skills=I definitely wouldn't have made a good teacher! So it took me awhile to get my head around the fact that having focus as a strength didn't mean I am necessarily disciplined-they are actually separate strengths. Focus is having an endpoint in mind, discipline is the ability to get there. So I guess its something I can continue working on in 2013 and probably the rest of my life.
7. Wake up without hitting the snooze button-I did this consistently for spurts of 2012, but I will say that I've become excellent at it on days when I'm waking up to get to a 6am class at the gym and, when I was training for the Chicago Perfect 10, was also good at it for my running mornings. I'm also better when Dan has already left for work and there's no one to snuggle with, haha. But I know I am capable of it, so I'm proud of that.
8. Integrate my post-college life with my relationship-this one hasn't been easy and I definitely wouldn't say I've been perfect but I'm trying. Its been difficult to spend time with my friends and away from Dan if it means I'm literally leaving him alone by himself on a Saturday night. I feel guilty about the fact that he doesn't really have any friends in the city besides his brother-his good friends from high school are still in Oak Park and everyone he works with lives in the far south/southwest suburbs so doesn't make it easy to hang out on the weekends. I'll keep working towards this goal, but its gone better than expected so far.
9. Buy new jeans-check, love LOFT even more than I already did
10. Find my niche at the Union League Club-still working on this one. Joining the Communications Committee helped me feel more like a member, although they're not really people I'll seek out at events to chat with. However, I am still striving to become better friends with some of the younger members. At one point this year I had 4 pretty solid ULC friends but after 1 moved and 1 quit, that left 2. We'll see what this next year brings! I have until September before my dues go up so that might require a decision to determine if its the best use of my time.
11. Cross one thing off my bucket list-I have several of these as well. One on pinterest, one general list that I started when I was in high school, and another "to do before I'm 30". I can definitely cross one item off the before I'm 30 list, as I've found a job that I enjoy going to at least 80% of the time. Actually, I think its more than 80% of the time. I don't always love what I'm doing at work, but I enjoy the people that I work with. Now that Dan's deserting me for Hewitt, I can't say that I'll see two of my closest friends on a daily basis, but at least I still have Laura (for now...) and plenty of other people I enjoy spending time with.
12. Read another "classic"-I created this goal with the knowledge that Pride and Prejudice became one of my all-time favorite books once I finally got through it (only took like 4 times starting it over about 3 years). I haven't completed another classic per say, but I did finish reading the Book of Genesis (another "to do before I'm 30 goal"=read the Bible) so I think that counts
13. Make my apartment feel like a home-moving in with Dan to a new apartment definitely made this happen for me. Instead of this massive apartment filled with random pieces of furniture that was somewhere in between college and real life, we now have a smaller apartment that, even if not expertly furnished, definitely seems more like a real person's apartment instead of a college one. The rule of nothing on the wall that's not framed certainly helps this!
14. Set a wedding date-well, this one didn't happen. But it was also the one most out of my control so I can't take full blame. Despite many inquires, there was no ring at Christmas nor during our very romantic New Year's Eve flight. Maybe this will become a 2013 resolution.
15. Get between 6.5-7 hours of sleep every night-officially not in college anymore and can't rely on mid-day naps to get me through! I wouldn't say I achieve this every night (some I slept more, others less) but on average I think its one to check off!
And I haven't come up with what my resolutions will be for 2013....weight loss and wedding date perhaps, probably could pretend I'm going to floss every night but I've been saying that for 10 years and it hasn't happened yet. So far I think my only resolution will be to take the GMAT. I promised myself that on January 1st I would either buy a wedding planning book or a GMAT prep book so onto amazon.com to search for study guides I go! Happy New Year to all!
New Years Resolutions:
1. Puke less than once a month from drinking too much-successful! Hasn't happened once since the night before Dan moved in, how nice! Not going to cigar club has certainly helped that resolution out quite a bit! Trying to learn to remember to eat dinner before I go out as well
2. Weigh 130lbs on December 31st-Well, this is my own ultimate failure. I will say that according to the healthcare test I did for work, I didn't gain, or lose, any weight this year. So it could be worse since living with Dan has definitely had a negative affect on the health of my diet. But, I'm trying to remind myself to be grateful for the body that I have because it has done amazing things for me this year--like finish 10 miles in the Chicago Perfect 10--something I never thought I'd be able to do!
3. Have $5000 in my general savings account on December 31st-Achieved and surpassed a little on my own, and a lot considering I sold my car yesterday as well. Now I get to spend some time figuring out how/where I want to invest the money to save for grad school, a down payment, or perhaps a wedding.
Objectives for Self-Improvement:
1. Effectively and efficiently complete 6 hours of work per day, 5 days a week- For those of you who know that I work 40 hour weeks, this probably seems a little suspicious. However, I will tell you that there was more than 1 week during my first rotation at Aon that I wasn't working even 1/4 of the time I should have been, which unfortunately isn't an all together uncommon experience in the ECD program, at least in IT. I am happy to say that despite a few dead weeks at the beginning of my second rotation, I have been much busier this past year and very happy for that!
2. Complete ITIL certification-this was a requirement (perhaps a loose requirement at best) for the ECD program which I am happy to say I completed at the end of August (or maybe beginning of September, don't really remember) this year!
3. Find 5 leadership opportunities both inside/outside of work- I surpassed this goal within months of making it, and didn't even have to try very hard to do so. This year I joined the alumni chapter of Alpha Chi Omega and took on the role of Assistant VP Programming. I also joined the Communications Committee at the Union League Club. I increased my role with the University of Richmond Alumni Recruitment Committee to serve as the Regional Co-coordinator after my friend Alison left the city for grad school. At work I created the IT development plan for the new ECD class alongside my mentor. My biggest leadership commitment in the past year and continuing on to next year though is through Big Shoulders Fund. I joined the Auxiliary Board in February and started participating in the schools committee right away. I also participated in 4 and led 2 of our Give Back Days which has been one of my favorite parts of Big Shoulders-and recruited 4 new participants for our October one! Next year I've been asked to serve as a sub-committee chair for volunteers and mentors as part of my committee and am also hoping to start a college counseling program in some of our high schools to encourage students to apply to more elite schools outside of the state like the University of Richmond.
4. Make 2 consistent new friends-definitely not one of my easiest goals but I think that meeting Colleen and Rachel this year allow me to check it off the list. Although Rachel and I haven't actually seen each other in literally months, we do gchat on almost a daily basis, since we're in similar fields we understand each other's work complaints like few others do! Colleen and I met at the Union League club and have spent a lot of time together in the past month-looking forward to more time together in 2013 as we train for the Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon (note: Colleen this means you have to do it!! Official because its in the blog!!)
5. Lose 15lbs-as discussed above, this did not happen. There's always next year, haha
6. Become more disciplined-eh, questionable for sure. But one thing I did this year which really helped me understand myself was doing a short course (for lack of better word through church) called Strengths for the Journey. In this I retook a Gallup administered strengths test which I took as part of a leadership conference my junior year of college. As part of a small group through St. Clements Church, we discussed our strengths through more of a Catholic lens. My top strengths were as follows: focus, learner, analytical, responsibility, input. If nothing else, this exercise assured me that I'm in the right career path, haha. No people skills=I definitely wouldn't have made a good teacher! So it took me awhile to get my head around the fact that having focus as a strength didn't mean I am necessarily disciplined-they are actually separate strengths. Focus is having an endpoint in mind, discipline is the ability to get there. So I guess its something I can continue working on in 2013 and probably the rest of my life.
7. Wake up without hitting the snooze button-I did this consistently for spurts of 2012, but I will say that I've become excellent at it on days when I'm waking up to get to a 6am class at the gym and, when I was training for the Chicago Perfect 10, was also good at it for my running mornings. I'm also better when Dan has already left for work and there's no one to snuggle with, haha. But I know I am capable of it, so I'm proud of that.
8. Integrate my post-college life with my relationship-this one hasn't been easy and I definitely wouldn't say I've been perfect but I'm trying. Its been difficult to spend time with my friends and away from Dan if it means I'm literally leaving him alone by himself on a Saturday night. I feel guilty about the fact that he doesn't really have any friends in the city besides his brother-his good friends from high school are still in Oak Park and everyone he works with lives in the far south/southwest suburbs so doesn't make it easy to hang out on the weekends. I'll keep working towards this goal, but its gone better than expected so far.
9. Buy new jeans-check, love LOFT even more than I already did
10. Find my niche at the Union League Club-still working on this one. Joining the Communications Committee helped me feel more like a member, although they're not really people I'll seek out at events to chat with. However, I am still striving to become better friends with some of the younger members. At one point this year I had 4 pretty solid ULC friends but after 1 moved and 1 quit, that left 2. We'll see what this next year brings! I have until September before my dues go up so that might require a decision to determine if its the best use of my time.
11. Cross one thing off my bucket list-I have several of these as well. One on pinterest, one general list that I started when I was in high school, and another "to do before I'm 30". I can definitely cross one item off the before I'm 30 list, as I've found a job that I enjoy going to at least 80% of the time. Actually, I think its more than 80% of the time. I don't always love what I'm doing at work, but I enjoy the people that I work with. Now that Dan's deserting me for Hewitt, I can't say that I'll see two of my closest friends on a daily basis, but at least I still have Laura (for now...) and plenty of other people I enjoy spending time with.
12. Read another "classic"-I created this goal with the knowledge that Pride and Prejudice became one of my all-time favorite books once I finally got through it (only took like 4 times starting it over about 3 years). I haven't completed another classic per say, but I did finish reading the Book of Genesis (another "to do before I'm 30 goal"=read the Bible) so I think that counts
13. Make my apartment feel like a home-moving in with Dan to a new apartment definitely made this happen for me. Instead of this massive apartment filled with random pieces of furniture that was somewhere in between college and real life, we now have a smaller apartment that, even if not expertly furnished, definitely seems more like a real person's apartment instead of a college one. The rule of nothing on the wall that's not framed certainly helps this!
14. Set a wedding date-well, this one didn't happen. But it was also the one most out of my control so I can't take full blame. Despite many inquires, there was no ring at Christmas nor during our very romantic New Year's Eve flight. Maybe this will become a 2013 resolution.
15. Get between 6.5-7 hours of sleep every night-officially not in college anymore and can't rely on mid-day naps to get me through! I wouldn't say I achieve this every night (some I slept more, others less) but on average I think its one to check off!
And I haven't come up with what my resolutions will be for 2013....weight loss and wedding date perhaps, probably could pretend I'm going to floss every night but I've been saying that for 10 years and it hasn't happened yet. So far I think my only resolution will be to take the GMAT. I promised myself that on January 1st I would either buy a wedding planning book or a GMAT prep book so onto amazon.com to search for study guides I go! Happy New Year to all!
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