Thursday, April 4, 2013

New Job Bliss

Wow...it's been 11 months since I used this thing...sooo much has changed since then.  I feel like a totally different person, with different wants, needs, and just aspirations in general. I'm not sure where to begin, but it may be best to just ramble forward. 

Although I of course didn't want to graduate from college, we all know I couldn't postpone the inevitable so 2 weeks after my last post, I indeed graduated from college, Magna Cum Laude (.3 away from Suma)..grrrr...but anyways, I really thought at that point that college was the best time of my life. I was happy and just wasn't ready to let that go.  Boy has God shown me just how wrong I was. College was great, and I'll always think about it fondly, but I've most definitely grown since that point. 

I began with a free lance job..I was told it would turn into something more, but 8 months into it, it was pretty obvious that that was all it would ever be.  In one "normal" weekend, I received news of 3 job openings which seemed to catch my attention.  Because I was comfortable and hating change as usual, I ignored them. 

Two of those said opportunities faded and just kind of got erased, but one in particular nagged me constantly and I always felt sick to my stomach when I thought about it.  An opening at the local newspaper was there and although that's always something I thought I wanted to do, I was "comfortable" with my current job..I enjoyed my freedom of making my own hours and coming/going as I pleased.  I was able to spend time with friends and family without the stress of planning around a typical work schedule.  Little did I know God was about to change my life forever.  

I kept receiving calls from family friends informing me of the newspaper job because everyone knew I needed something full-time, and that it was right in my field of study from college.  Finally after talking things through with my best friend, I decided to apply..I mean, what could it hurt? 

My resume received a call back, and from there I proceeded to drive an hour away to an interview which seemed like a lot of work for a job I wasn't even really sure I wanted, but I went anyways.  The worst thing that could happen was that I didn't get the job and that I would stay just where I was currently which I was comfortable with.  There goes that word again.."comfortable." I feel as though God hates that word, especially in our faith.  If we're comfortable, and never willing to take a risk, then how can we ever do what He wants us to do?  

I'm sure you can all see where this story seems to be heading. I was offered the newspaper reporter position.  I happily accepted the job. It was full-time, with a normal pay schedule (unlike my free lance work), and I felt like I had nothing to lose. I started this week, and boy is everything NOTHING like I expected.  My communications professors could tell me every hour in college that the journalism world was fast-paced and crazy, but until you actually live it like I am now, you have no idea how much that statement is correct.  

My job is not a normal 8:30-5 job. Some days I have to go in super early to meet a deadline, while other days I must stay hours after the other employees have left in order to make edits, write articles, etc. And that's just been my experience this week! My lunch hour is never planned (that is if I even have time for one) and I have no sort of schedule other than the council meetings I'm in charge of covering. 

I've been a planner all my life.  I like order.  I hate spontaneity. I want things just so, and I want them done ahead of time. God certainly has a sense of humor. He gave me the gift, and the passion to be a writer, a reporter, a journalist- basically, the one job that doesn't give me a scheduled ANYTHING. Ironic, huh? And even though I've already worked over my allotted hours for this week and it's Thursday, I could not be more happy.  Each night when I get home, exhausted, and sometimes grumpy, I still go to sleep with a smile on my face because tomorrow brings a whole new day of surprises and opportunities.  My days are never the same, and never will be. And I love that. I couldn't be happier.  I guess God was able to get through my thick skull after all.  Well, until then..this has been Elyssa Parnell, signing off ;) 


"Choose a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life." - Confucius   

(I couldn't agree more) :)