Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A day in the life

The other day a friend asked me if I liked my job because it was different all the time. I realized that this is exactly why I like my job. While working with a variety of different people (students, instructors, the other members of my team), there is always something new and different happening.

Sometimes they are frustrating or negative events such as a student who feels like he needs to yell at me every time I suggest he do some homework. This same student loses or forgets his keys at least twice a month, and so I am on excellent terms with the security and information people, which is where he inevitably goes to panic. (He knows that if he comes and lets me know, that I have an extra key to his locker, I won't get that upset or worried, and heaven help us all, he loves the drama!)

On the other hand, sometimes I have a really great conversation with instructors about how much they like having one of the students in their classes. Sometimes I get to sit down with the other people I work with and hash out a specific problem one of us may be having. I get to see our students when they finish a long and complicated assignment (one in which I have usually invested a lot of time and effort myself), submit it, and get some great feedback. The pride and accomplishment that this brings makes every day worth it.

I spent years working in retail where money is god, the bottom line, and the final goal. I always wanted to work in a job where I actually helped people, made a difference. Now that I am there, I find it extremely rewarding.

So, bring on the challenges. They may want to make me tear my hair out, but at least they keep things interesting.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It is good to help people. I always felt cleaning teeth was a bit of a mixed bag that way....not that fun for the patient, but important. Oh well, never again! yay!