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!
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