Happy Thursday!

I feel kind of guilty blogging while at work but considering I almost never take a lunch break (or any break for that matter), I think taking five minutes out of my day to document my work is allowed. I meant to post this the other day but here at work we took a StrengthsQuest thing to use at our retreat and my results (in order):

COMPETITION People who are especially talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.

INPUT People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

INTELLECTION People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

IDEATION People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

ADAPTABILITY People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Oddly enough I personally wouldn't think competition would be first on the list though I am awfully competitive (only not so much at work as at home...Kim, my best friend, thinks she's better at Guitar Hero than me, but I mean c'mon...haha) I also would have thought adaptability would have been more towards the top as I'm definitely an easy-going person. I felt kind of out of place at the retreat as everyone seemed to have more varied and up-beat results (like positivity and focus) while mine were basically about intelligence, competition, and the ability to go with the flow. I guess it doesn't matter, though, as I happen to like what makes me me :)

I really can't get over how fast this week has gone by. I've had quite a few meetings (I'm so popular haha) and I think the retreat definitely helped speed up the week. I feel like I've accomplished a lot, though, this week and that things are gradually picking up. I'm definitely loving work--this might be the best job yet. While I've more or less loved every job I've had, none of them were just right. Working at the Lincoln Museum and the J-Ville public library both left me feeling rather lonely as I'd go 12 hours usually without seeing or speaking to anyone. Working at New Salem was a blast, but the heat was a killer. Oh, and my year spent at FamVid...well, that was an interesting time. While I LOVED LOVED LOVED the job (organizing movies is my thing! and I loved the emphasis on making sure the customers were happy) there were just certain things that never quite jived right with me (that I won't post in a public forum lol). This job, though, feels so different than any other. Not only do I work with some AMAZING people (both in my office and AmeriCorps in general) but I absolutely love what I'm doing. Again perhaps because it's only the 2nd week, but I actually look forward to getting to work in the morning. I still have the strong motivation I found at our PSO and I am determined to help make a huge impact here at LLCC and within the Springfield community in general.

Today I've spent most of my morning gluing and coloring so I feel rather useless but I think these display boards are really going to get the students' attention. I kind of like the fact that my opinion is valued both on a professional level and also as a recent college grad who knows what students typically like. Perhaps I'll spend the rest of my life working in a college environment - it could definitely work for me. Nothing like having a 2-week long Christmas vacation every year :D