Monday, June 19, 2006

update on my new job

So it has been ages since I blogged and so much has changed since then. Here's an update (and a very long one...sorry).

I went to San Francisco for a week with three other colleagues for training. It was so good, and so challenging. The first day, the trainer told us he expected to push us out of our comfort zone and we would temporarily appear to know less than we did coming in. He said if we allowed ourselves to, basically, "turf (in the immortal words of Dr. Mandeville) and fall flat on our faces, we would eventually soar higher in our skills and knowledge than we had ever imagined. So we had to set aside anything we knew, or thought we knew, about coaching students, so that we could learn a new way to coach. Needless to say, it was a long and draining week. Wednesday night I felt really crappy and wondered if I'd ever learn what I needed to know. But fortunately, we were expected to journal each night about three things we learned that day, and this really forced me to deal with my insecurities and challenges. And each morning, one of us was coached by the trainer to 1) experience coaching and 2) work through one of our "key learnings" we wanted to process further. It was helpful each day because I realized my insecurities and struggles were the same as what the others were experiencing. And the one thing I learned is that I work for an amazing company that had a master plan to the week and is full of genuine encouragement. By the end of the week, I was gaining my confidence and getting real and honest feedback that I can do this job and am already doing great things.

So when I was in San Fran, I didn't really see the city a ton. We stayed downtown, near the cable car line. One day we walked to the east bay to have lunch, and another night I had dinner in The Mission District with Seth and Angela (thanks, Ange, for driving!). But otherwise, I spent a lot of time by myself just relaxing in my hotel room because 1) I was too tired to walk two miles to see the Golden Gate Bridge and 2) too cheap to pay for transportation to go to see it. It just wasn't as important as my personal reflection. So next time I'm there, I'll check out the city a little more.

Since that week, I spent last week training at my new office. I got to learn things specific to the school I'm working for and started to get to know my co-workers. Consistent with San Fran people, they are all so great. I work in an environment where everyone is college-educated and has a passion for helping people. So we speak a lot of the same language and have a similar way of interacting. But everyone's so unique. There are former counselors and teachers, a PhD in Math, an MA in poetry, and other great people. In our meeting today, we started with a "circle of congratulations" for 3 people who were just certified at the next coaching level, and it was just a time to tell them each what we have learned and see as strenghts in them. Total Res Life kind of stuff, but it's in a corporate setting. How great, huh?

As for the work, last week I worked with a coach in San Fran and he and I made calls to several of his students, with him introducing me. I also spend a TON of time getting a handle on my schedule (61 students to meet with each week) and the computer systems. This week, I have started making all calls by myself. I am really enjoying just chatting with students, finding out how they are doing and trying to help them to be more successful. My craziest day is tomorrow. I have appointments EVERY 30 MINUTES for the ENTIRE DAY, except maybe 2 time slots. That is so much. I'm going to be drained by the end of the day. It's a lot of question asking to do in one day! :) But I love that I am doing the stuff I loved as an RD. I used to say I wished I could just get paid to be a mentor all day. This is probably the closest thing I'll get to it.

I know it's not going to be all roses, that I'll have students who are mad at their school and take it out on me, students who don't want to work with me, and weeks when my numbers are bad and I have to push to try to raise my retention rate, but for now, I'm just happy that I'm doing something that uses my strengths (which I discovered through StrengthsQuest a couple of years ago): Adaptability, Strategic, Achievement, Empathy, and Futuristic. I can start to see each of these fitting together in this job, and it's great.