I realized today that it has been months since I posted on
my blog. So much has happened and I have
been busy with post-college life, which apparently means I lacked the time and
thought to write. I will admit, I have
tried to write several times but I never really liked the way it sounded. I
suppose writing about my adventures this summer just did not compare to the
excitement I had to share when I was abroad. However, that is no excuse for not
writing at least something! On that note, here we go:
Final Semester of College:
My final semester was fantastic. I had a light load course-wise, which I had
not entirely expected to be able to do after studying abroad. I only had 12
hours and every hour was a class in which I was truly interested: Career
Planning, Interethnic Communication, Cultural Awareness, Honors Research, and
Ballroom Dancing. Career planning was a beneficial class to take my last
semester, although I almost wished I had taken it sooner. There was some information
that I feel should be more widely known for college students early in their
career, but it was still helpful to get some job search, resume writing, and
interviewing tips. I had been interested in taking ballroom dancing for years,
but it never fit with my schedule until this semester. It was probably my
favorite non-major class that I took in college! Interethnic communication and
cultural awareness were two classes that looked at the same subject from a
different viewpoint, both of which were interesting. They covered a wide variety
of communication problems that arise between cultures and how to be aware of
and avoid them. Not to mention, these
classes truly benefited my honors research to make it an absolutely phenomenal
project to culminate my degree. I really enjoyed conducting my research and am
truly proud of how it came out, although most people would find it
mind-numbingly boring to read.
May 13th:
I graduated. Yes, I actually enjoyed my degree. Yes, I will be paying for it
for years to come. No, I did not go on to grad school. No, I did not have a job
ready to go when I finished. And no, I still do not know what I want to be when
I grow up (I think I may know the answer to that question by the time I am
ninety). My degree was part of the largest college on the campus (of course) so
it took several hours, not including the time waiting in the gym downstairs so we
graduates could crowd out onto the stadium floor. My aunt, uncle, grandparents,
and godfather all came into town, which is always great. I had not seen my
godfather in years, so it was amazing to spend the weekend with him and the
rest of the family. Three cheers for the end of school, even though I actually
enjoyed it!
Graduation with my favorite professor,
Dr. Bisel. I took five of his classes.
May 29th –
June 1st: Las Vegas. My friend and I treated ourselves to a trip
to Las Vegas to celebrate our graduation. Neither of us had ever been and I am
not sure either of us will ever go back, but it was definitely an adventure.
Not to say it was a bad trip, but it was not quite as amazing as we had hoped. We
went to the Grand Canyon, saw a couple of shows, ate at some buffets, and had
an overall pleasant time. The Grand
Canyon was beautiful, although our trip was not as advertised. The shows were
definitely the best part of the trip, which was not exactly surprising (other
than gambling and drinking, they are the main reason to go to Vegas!). Oh, and
the buffets were amazing, too. Expensive, but well worth the money considering
how much food you had the option of eating (and I absolutely ate more than my
fill). I will advise that you do not fly Allegiant if you go. Our plane was
several hours late both going and coming, and they were not very forthcoming
with the reasons why. But hey, that is one place to check off of my adventures
list!
Grand Canyon
La Reve
Summer: Several
small adventures with Madison no one really wants to read about. A couple of
wine walks, a trip to Turner Falls, and a misguided attempt to reignite our
youth at a pumpkin farm overrun with children. Really, you do not want me to
write about it. Nor do I want to write about it, for that matter. Oh, and I was
job hunting during this time too, with not much success clearly.
Turner Falls
Wine Walks
Misguided pumpkin farm
Summer Add-In: So I realized while finding my pictures that I did have a couple of more exciting adventures. I went to see Ed Sheeran's concert in Tulsa, which was fabulous. I also participated in GISHWHES (the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen). It consisted of doing either acts of kindness or crazy acts of weirdness to raise money for a non-profit organization started by the actor who started the scavenger hunt. I also went to the Kings of Leon concert with Jessica. Yay! Real summer adventures! Moving on.
Ed Sheeran Concert
GISHWHES Item: Symbol of Hope (for nerds)
in your front yard
Kings of Leon Concert
November: New job.
I found a job! Well, I think it might be more appropriate to say that a job
found me, but still. I have a job! And never again will I believe someone when
they tell me shopping is a waste of time, because that is how I found my job.
Mom and I were checking out a new boutique in OKC. After talking with the
manager for a few minutes, she started to ask me a few pointed questions about
my experience and then gave me her husband’s number because he had a job opening
that I might be interested in. One phone call and two interviews later, I had
found my first job out of college as a customer service representative at Green
Bay Packaging in Chickasha. Oh, and this makes two jobs now that I have found
by going shopping! Also, Loki (my car) died, so we had to start car shopping this
month. We did find one and started the financing paperwork before we left for
Thanksgiving in Texas (this will be relevant soon, I promise).
December 4th
– 8th: Racine, WI. One week at my new job and I was already on a
business trip. I was sent to Racine, WI, to learn about the corrugated business
and see an idea of how my GM wants to grow our plant. I spent time learning
about everything that goes into a box, from the design and production to
testing and sales. The whole process is a constant war between thinking “I didn’t
know this much went into creating a box” and “This is such a straightforward
process, why am I here”. Honestly, it was both fascinating and fascinatingly
boring to learn about. On the bright side, I learned a lot and ate even more. I
was seriously well-fed on this trip and I got to see Milwaukee as well, which
is a really beautiful city. Actually, Wisconsin was just a beautiful state.
December 11th
–14th: Green Bay, WI. Back-to-back trips! This trip was to the
original facility in Green Bay, which is a huge production. Not only is it
where our corporate offices are located, there is also a paper mill, a
corrugator, a sheet plant, a folding carton plant and several warehouses (I
know you do not know what this is, but just to give an idea of size). The corrugator
and paper mill were really fascinating to see, especially after learning about
how boxes are made. However, I am fairly certain that the men at this plant had
no idea what to do with me. I was sort of shunted from department to
department, with no one really knowing why I was there and what they were
supposed to do with me. More of a lesson in what we do not want to do at our
plant, but it was a really cool and modern production to see compared to our tiny
facility in Chickasha. Oh, and it snowed while I was there! I actually got to
see snow for the Christmas holiday, even if it was not actually in Oklahoma.
December 16th:
Car buying. A month later, I finally got to sign the paperwork on my new car, a
2017 VW Passat. The finance department at Fowler Volkswagen in Norman is
absolutely useless. We had an amazing
experience with our salesperson. He was very helpful and knowledgeable, without
ever giving off the sleazy cars salesman vibe or pressuring us once we had
walked away. However, after we started dealing with the finance department, it
all went to hell. They would not answer phone calls, would not get their paperwork
in order, and they were going to send someone to Chickasha for me to sign the
paperwork (since I was leaving for WI) and they never showed up or called me! When
we finally managed to get a hold of them and tell them we were coming to sign
the paperwork, they told us the finance manager had to be there (which he was
not) because he had our paperwork (for some reason) and we had to come the
following day. Even when we went, we never saw the finance manager and they
were reprinting all of our paperwork, so clearly he was not necessary to the
process (Mom thinks it’s because we were labeled problem customers and he
needed to be there in case we cause problems). Seriously, it was like they did not want me to
buy the freaking car. And even after we finished the paperwork, I had to go
back twice more because they forgot things! Hopefully, my future car buying
experiences will go better. They definitely are not on my recommendation list,
which is unfortunate since I would absolutely recommend my salesman.
So there it is. The adventures that I have had this year all
wrapped up in one pretty bow. I will try to be better about writing, but I am
not seeing any big (or small) adventures in my near future. We will just have to wait and see. Happy New
Year, everyone! May your resolutions… go up in smoke because mine already have.
