Leading Off - It’s been a long, strange week. As I sit here and type in the union computer lab, where my old student I.D. still gets me in, I find it hard to believe that only a week ago I was down at the Nav fall conference. And I suppose before I go any further I should visit those events.
Nav Fall Conference - This idea didn’t make it into my head until two days ago while at the alumni team meeting, but now that it’s there I can’t shake it. Why did I sign up for the fall conference? I did it out of habit, I think. I didn’t go expecting anything or with any type of intention or plan. I went because I always go to Nav events. I don’t know if I like that. Something to consider in the future.
Anyway, I drove a late car down to Tampa after I got off work last Friday complete with James, Rachel and Scout. I enjoyed that car a lot, a good mix of relational statuses: I know James very well, I’ve known Rachel for a long time but I really don’t know her as well as I think I do, and I don’t know Scout very well at all. The way up was spent singing along to Caedmon’s Call and debating whether you can lose your salvation (we didn’t find the answer, just in case you’re wondering).
We didn’t arrive in time for any of the Friday events, so my conference started Saturday morning. That day I heard talks from Mike Jordahl, Dave Haus, and Andy Farina. But I think the highlights of my day were getting extended one-on-one time with Joel Helms (former mentor) and Dave Wirgau (current mentor). I’ve had a lot of things happen over the past few months and I’m still trying to make sense of them. This whole out-of-college life is much harder than I thought it would be. I think it might be due to a lack of anticipation. At each previous stage of my life I’ve been working towards getting to the next step. Now that I’ve “arrived” at the end goal, being college-educated and employed, I don’t really know how to proceed. No one is telling me what I need to do next. Getting a chance to talk to Joel and Dave about the details of this feeling was very beneficial.
I came away from the conference having really only learned a couple of new applications from the speakers. What I will remember from this event was what I learned about myself, and how I’ve got a long way to go before I anywhere near where I should be.
Elder Affairs - Monday and Tuesday I spent nearly my entire workday in training. It’s not that I don’t like getting away from my computer; that’s the best part. But I am wondering if I’m ever going to use any of what they tried to teach me, and I’m even more unsure of whether I’ll remember anything they told me if I don’t come across it everyday. They tried to send me to some training on Friday, but because of my new hours (and a good bit of miscommunication) I didn’t attend.
New hours? That’s right, I have a new schedule at work. I asked my boss if I could come in a half hour earlier and leave a half hour later on Mondays through Thursdays, the goal being a half-day every Friday. He agreed, saying that I had deserved it. I also got four days leave between Christmas and New Years, so I will be going home to Connecticut for the holidays. Good news all around!
Alumni Team Karaoke Night - Wow. Evidently the powers that be, whoever they are, decided that eating together and praying together wasn’t enough “together” for the alumni team, so they added “making a fool of yourself together” to the itinerary. Lots of fun, no doubt about it. I’ve got some pictures of the shindig up on Facebook. Unofficial first prize goes to Brent Kanyok for his stirring rendition of “New York, New York”.
The rest - I don’t have all that much to look forward to in the weeks ahead. And don’t say Halloween, because I think I’m going out of town on a business trip. I have plenty of things that need to get done, but not many that I’m going to enjoy doing. I just need to grind out the rest of this month and the beginning of November and hope that better things won’t be too far off.
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