The Beginning of My Professional Career Path

The last two days have been spent being trained in on all of the "ins and outs" in the Administrative world within a school setting. Although I have quite a bit more training to do, and things to learn along the way, I was really excited yesterday when I began my new office job at my local college. I was even more excited to learn that I have a front cubicle that is all of my own and I can use it, decorate it and set it up the way I would like to. I have in the past used other people's desks/cubicles for completing work tasks and for my internship. This photo below is almost an exact replica of what my cubicle actually looks like and why I was so elated to find out this space was all mine to set up however I would like it to be. My cubicle came with a computer, phone, basic office supplies and anything that I think I would need and do not have, I can order through Office Max if the department does not have it. : )

Over the first two days on the job, I have been training on all of the procedures that all Administrative personnel would need to know and even though it was all a bit overwhelming, I was and still am excited to learn this "new world" that I did not know much about what actually goes on in the daily functions. I was blown away by how many Acronyms there are that just pertain to the programs in which the HR Department of the college uses...I was told that I do not have to memorize these terms right now, but I think I have at least 8 new Acronyms that were spoken and explained to me today...EEK!

The daily jobs that one must do as an Administrative Assistant are far more than I initially thought but I know that I can do it! : ) I have created folder packets for a "PSEO" type of grant foundation for Faculty from local High schools who either come to the college to teach and/or those Faculty's students enrolled in this program, come to the college and take courses that they can get college credit for. It's like PSEO but I found they are by far two separate things....I have also done filing, learned how to maneuver through the college's programs for information I may need, I helped with an Advising Session for incoming students, learned how to operate my cool calendar system and set up appointments with Advisors or Advisory meetings. Completing a lot of clerical work is the bulk of what I will be doing, but I have been given the creative freedom to come up with more efficient ways to do some of the things if I can think of a way to do things more efficiently and accurately than they are now. This one will take time as I learn the systems and learn how to maneuver through them but I am excited to look more into these things...I was told that the best way people learn where things are at is if they have time to "play around in the files" and just open things up, or go into things and learn as I go because you can be told and shown how to do things but until you actually have to do them, it's harder to tell someone how to do something than it is to walk them through how to do something when they are in the midst of doing it.

This is just what I have been trained on thus far, yet I found out I have about 4-5 systems I need to be trained on and how to run them inside and out for daily use in the Advising/Administrative Department.

I do get to meet students daily as we have daily walk-in hours where students can come in for impromptu Advising meetings about career paths and they can also set up a longer meeting time with an advisor if they need more than a few minute meeting. I work in the Academic Advising Center, as one of the H.R.'s Administrative Assistants. It's surely a step in the right direction, I enjoy the school setting, office type set up and would love to obtain my teaching degree even more now. We will see how fast I can make that happen. : )

When you begin a new job, or switch roles in a setting like college where you go from being the student to being a member of the staff at the college you attended; you find out that there's so much more to what all the faculty and staff do on a daily basis that either we didn't know or that we kind of took for granted and didn't really think about. Going into the college yesterday, I felt quite confident that I knew a lot about the campus and the services/programs and I come to find that as a staff member, there were TONS of things that I didn't know existed and things I knew very little about because as student, I didn't learn, or have to learn anything about these things and operation systems. It's like I am a part of a completely different college, yet there's enough familiarity, that I know how to get around, ask questions, and find answers. : )

Once I get my desk all set up and organized, I will gladly take a photo and upload it for a future post. Right now though, my desk sadly looks like this photo with a computer monitor, basic office supplies, and a couple "How To" posters that I have not put up in my space yet. : )

I am anticipating an educational year for me with this position and I really hope that this job leads to a permanent position or that another one will open up when this one is done in the middle of May. For now, I am enjoying the learning experience and doing my best at being an Administrative Assistant! : )

~Melissa

The Craziness of Life and the Path Before Me

Life can hand you many tests and obstacles that will test your strength, courage and determination, yet bless you with the outcomes in some way. I have been quiet the last week or so with my blog as life had me in a whirlwind of tests, obstacles, craziness, daily wind and grind, yet has blessed me with a few things as well. We all wish at times that life was a straight and narrow path that comes with directions on how to avoid trouble, make all the right choices, be prepared for obstacles with directions of "How To" when you get to that certain place the obstacle is "waiting in the wings" for you to conqueror...In reality, life's paths and journeys all tend to look like the photo below with only a few feet of clear vision, yet beyond the nearness of what you can see, there is the mystery of the unknown.

 

In the last two weeks, I have helped my older sister move out of our apartment building, seen my niece and nephew go to live with my grandparents in Sauk Centre for the school year, I had to take my Mom to the ER because she was having a hard time breathing and had chest tightening/neck/shoulder pain...Come to find out that she nearly had a heart attack, almost had to have her heart shocked to slow down her racing heart and watched them pump her full of meds all the while, I was in the ER room crying and silently praying the rate numbers of the screen for her heart would drop before they had to shock her heart....To getting offered the job that I have been hoping and praying for over the last few months.

 

The last few weeks have tested my strength emotionally, and physically with the obstacles that I and my family have had to walk through as of late, but that's what life is about and what makes us stronger when we push trough it...Hmmm, I should be able to bench press a semi or something by now. : )

 

Life has "died down" in the craziness department and now I am about to turn over a new leaf in my life with a new Administrative job. I am excited to be an "Administrative Assistant for the Human Resources Department" at St. Cloud Technical and Community College!...Wow! That sounds so professional. : ) I am very excited about this job because I get to work in a school setting once again as I feel most "at home" in a job a job when I am in a school environment (if that makes sense). I am not a teacher by any means (yet), however, this is the next closest thing for me right now and I am very excited to begin this journey into the "professional world" after college.

 

I am also nervous, wondering if I can remember all of the things and procedures I was taught during my years in school as I find that I was starring at my laptop, "blanking" when I was looking at some old assignments I once did; trying to remember how I did them. I just have to remind myself that "I CAN DO THIS!" and trust in my skills, knowledge and training that I obtained and I can succeed at this job. Once I get the first few days over with this week, the nervous jitters will be shaken from me. I have the training and skills for this job and I know that this job can only lead me to more amazing opportunities down the road.

 

It's true what they say: "You will fall and fail before you fly and succeed." I have certainly failed and fallen and now I believe it is my time to begin flying and succeeding. : )

 

~Melissa