Junior Year
This past year has consisted of 60% co-op and about 30% school, making me feel even more removed from school than before. Rather than look back on this year and see a school year, I see a glimpse of post graduation life. These past twelve months have been a taste of the next (hopefully numerous) decades of my life, and I've grown quite used to the feeling. Knowing I have two consecutive semester of school facing me next semester is daunting; I haven't had to deal with such a situation since freshman year.
I've spent the last year trying my best to get myself ready for the time after I graduate and figuring out what path will make me happiest in life. Not that I've been consciously spending time each day reflecting or keeping a detailed journal, but I've been trying to be more aware of my surroundings. Going to work each day and pushing myself the hardest I can to test if I can stand those activities for the next 40 years of my life; visiting new places and seeing what environments I'm most comfortable in; pushing my normally introverted self to be social and make friends with co-workers. Results of my actions and awareness have not disappointed. I have secured a full-time job at Messer Construction as a project engineer - I found through my co-ops with Messer this year I enjoy project management and estimating is not the path for me. I have roommates, like most college students, to save money, though I've finally realized I thrive in a solitary home environment. And I don't mean it in the typical cliche manner of "ohhh, roommates are so annoying and messy"; I truly start to unravel when I am not allowed a space I can call my own without outside interaction. I have, however, pushed past my extreme introversion in my professional life. Striking up conversations in the workplace on my own is hard, but I made as much of a conscious effort as I could spring semester. It paid of, too; I keep in loose contact with people from my spring semester department and still join in biweekly happy hours with people. For someone who would happily head home and curl up with a puzzle and go to bed by 9pm, that's something. Moving forward with Messer next year, I'm looking forward to developing closer relationships with coworkers and making work like a second home.
Picking a simple three ways I've grown in the past year seems insincere and strange, but there's no possible way to document every change I've made to my life this past year. So, I'll leave with the note I am proud of this past year. I've been working my absolute hardest, and now I have a concrete result: full time employment at my dream company.
Some additional highlights to my year:
Being elected to the board of The Cincinnati Preservation Collective
Travelling to Italy with my family during winter break
Receiving straight A's fall semester
Fostering dogs
Dog sitting
Increasing the number of dogs I pet on a per day basis
My family asks me when I'm adopting a dog instead of when I'll get married or have kids
Really anything pertaining to dogs
I just really like dogs
This past year has consisted of 60% co-op and about 30% school, making me feel even more removed from school than before. Rather than look back on this year and see a school year, I see a glimpse of post graduation life. These past twelve months have been a taste of the next (hopefully numerous) decades of my life, and I've grown quite used to the feeling. Knowing I have two consecutive semester of school facing me next semester is daunting; I haven't had to deal with such a situation since freshman year.
I've spent the last year trying my best to get myself ready for the time after I graduate and figuring out what path will make me happiest in life. Not that I've been consciously spending time each day reflecting or keeping a detailed journal, but I've been trying to be more aware of my surroundings. Going to work each day and pushing myself the hardest I can to test if I can stand those activities for the next 40 years of my life; visiting new places and seeing what environments I'm most comfortable in; pushing my normally introverted self to be social and make friends with co-workers. Results of my actions and awareness have not disappointed. I have secured a full-time job at Messer Construction as a project engineer - I found through my co-ops with Messer this year I enjoy project management and estimating is not the path for me. I have roommates, like most college students, to save money, though I've finally realized I thrive in a solitary home environment. And I don't mean it in the typical cliche manner of "ohhh, roommates are so annoying and messy"; I truly start to unravel when I am not allowed a space I can call my own without outside interaction. I have, however, pushed past my extreme introversion in my professional life. Striking up conversations in the workplace on my own is hard, but I made as much of a conscious effort as I could spring semester. It paid of, too; I keep in loose contact with people from my spring semester department and still join in biweekly happy hours with people. For someone who would happily head home and curl up with a puzzle and go to bed by 9pm, that's something. Moving forward with Messer next year, I'm looking forward to developing closer relationships with coworkers and making work like a second home.
Picking a simple three ways I've grown in the past year seems insincere and strange, but there's no possible way to document every change I've made to my life this past year. So, I'll leave with the note I am proud of this past year. I've been working my absolute hardest, and now I have a concrete result: full time employment at my dream company.
Some additional highlights to my year:
Being elected to the board of The Cincinnati Preservation Collective
Travelling to Italy with my family during winter break
Receiving straight A's fall semester
Fostering dogs
Dog sitting
Increasing the number of dogs I pet on a per day basis
My family asks me when I'm adopting a dog instead of when I'll get married or have kids
Really anything pertaining to dogs
I just really like dogs
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