As you may recall from a previous post, today was my first day at my new job! (Cue confetti cannons and dancing elephants!) Here’s my new 8:30-5:15 home:
That’s what I see from my office door. You heard right: I have an office, and said office has a door! This is a huge step up from my former common-space cubicle. Glory! Here’s what you see when you look in from the hallway:
It’s admittedly a pretty sad scene right now, but I’m taking in a calendar and at least one framed photo tomorrow to dress it up, and maybe my mini-pennants from my various schools. I won’t go too crazy because we’ll be moving offices later this year (for a fancier building. woo!), but I am very excited to have my own workspace walls to dress.
As you can see from my name plate, my title is PR Specialist. Pretty vague, right? I’ll be writing about the business, law and policy schools (collectively referred to as the university’s professional schools) for press releases, the university website and a couple of alumni magazines. I’m so excited to have a job that will have me writing a lot. My brain is ready to be exercised again! As for the name on the name plate, I think I’m gonna have to get them to spell out that “P” for me…
I picked a great day to start, because today also happened to be a departmental outing to the new dolphin show at the Georgia Aquarium. I was in the office for a grand total of about four hours. I had one meeting, got a tour of the two floors of the building relevant to me, met a ton of new colleagues and chatted with my boss before we headed out at lunchtime. (This was especially fortunate since I don’t have an email address or even a network login yet, so I would have just been putzing around on my smartphone or staring at that blue wall all day.)
We got to tour the galleries for a bit, but the main attraction was the dolphin production — and I mean production. It was absurd. Dramatic swells of music, an earnest singing guy in a light-up cape, stage fights between people and sea-monsters (both wearing wetsuit-based costumes)… oh, and some dolphins. (This rather diplomatic review has more detail, if you’re curious.) The dolphins were freaking amazing, actually, and I would have loved to see way more of them. Needless to say, I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for my admission.
We got back to the office close to the end of the normal workday, so I just headed out after a quick check-in with my boss, since there was nothing for me to do anyway. Tomorrow will be a day full of HR fun. Once I get all that out of the way (which I hear can take a while) I can finally get started learning my beat. Woo! I think I’m gonna like it here.
congrats again on your new job! sounds like a better fit for you, from whatever mysterious thing you were doing before!
Thanks! Yes, it definitely feels like a better fit. I’m sort of hoping to never speak of that other thing again
Do you guys go on frequent outings? Sounds pretty awesome. Especially the office.
I don’t think big/pricey outings like this happen too often… I just got lucky with my timing. I was also told that the one thing the big boss of the department will not tolerate is missing any work social events! Duly noted… Don’t think it should be a problem though because there are many young cool people, it seems.
uhm…HELLO! I’m in PR too! Why haven’t we talked about this before…fail on my part.
Congrats on your new job! AND YOUR OFFICE! That is huge!
Thanks! Yeah, that’s why I found your other blog so interesting. I studied journalism too, so maybe that’s the “side” of things I more identify with. This seems like it will be an interesting blend of both!
i used to always dream about working at a university. maybe i’m just nostalgic for my college days, but it seems like it would provide such an inspiring workplace atmosphere. congrats on your 1st week!
I remember the fall of the year after I graduated college I went to visit the Emory library to look up some music and felt so at ease on campus, even though it was an unfamiliar one. It was so much more comfortable than my usual daytime environment, which at the time was teaching in a middle school classroom or being a receptionist/legal assistant. I definitely am excited to be back in a university environment. (I also eventually get to take classes for free — sweet perk!)
So exciting! A real life office, and you’re a specialist!