| My work life began while I was in college. If you looked at my Bio page, you've seen that I have had quite a lot of work experience in my lifetime. Just for fun, I am going to try to list all those jobs here (they aren't necessarily in the correct order): 1. Paper route for The Virginian Pilot at Runaway Bay Apartments 2. Paper route for The Virginian Pilot in Indian Lakes neighborhood 3. Hardee's (opened new store in Virginia Beach) 4. Rose's department store in Music and Electronics, Assistant Manager 5. McDonald's as Buffet person (this was in Florida) 6. Hardee's again; different store 7. McDonald's again; delivery coordinator (this was a short lived attempt to do delivery) 8. Telemarketer, National Right to Work Foundation 9. Admissions Office Recruiter, Old Dominion University 10. Financial Aid Assistant, Old Dominion University 11. Fabric Cutter, House of Parisian Lunettes 12. Brief summer stint at Dairy Queen in the Outer Banks, NC 13. Waiter, Olive Garden Restaurant 14. Sales Representative, Pearle Vision 15. Clerk, Ghent Pharmacy 16. Advertising Sales, Our Own Community Press 17. Ad Manager, Our Own Community Press 18. Administrative Assistant, Eastern Regional AIDS Resource and Consultation Center, Eastern Virginia Medical School 19. Project Coordinator, Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Disease Division, Eastern Virginia Medical School 20. Waiter, Jack Quinn's Irish Pub (part time) 21. Salesperson, The Tie Gut (part time, booth in MacArthur Center mall) 22. Barista, Starbuck's 23. Store Manager, Rite Aid Pharmacy 24. Branch Manager, Enterprise Rent-a-Car 25. Store Manager, Starbucks Coffee Company So, there were a few jobs. Remember, though, that anything before #15, I was under 21 years old, and anything before #9, I was in high school or lower. Numbers 16 - 17 and 18 - 19 were promotions, and number 20 was a part time gig when I was working another full time job, so really I have only had five real jobs since I have been an adult. It just looks like a lot. Anyway, some have said that I am defined by what I do at work. That may be true to a certain degree because since I otherwise would not be doing much, work provides an outlet for me to exercise my skills. Adding up all of my past experience, I am a pretty well rounded individual. I am constantly on a search, though, because there are so many things out there that peak my interest. When I was beginning college, I visited a counselor who asked me what I wanted to be my major. I didn't have an answer. How was I to pick just one major out of a list of hundreds of areas? We determined that independent study would be a viable option but that didn't make sense to me because it seemed to lessen the value of the degree. We also thought I would be a good lobbyist, which is something with which I agree today. Instead, I choose English as my major. I focused on professional writing. This was after a brief time in the educational track. After three years at Old Dominion University, though, I began to realize that English majors don't usually get rich quick and, since I wanted to be financially stable, I began to seek out a new degree program. That is was ended me up at Averett and, if you review my work experience, you will see that my major focus has been on sales and financial management type-jobs. However, when I was at the medical school, I was able to utilize those professional writing skills I learned in college. I actually liked that job but at $23,000 per year and no hope for growth, I had to find something better. I don't know that I have succeeded in finding that better thing but I am searching. If you know of something, please let me know. So, where does that leave us? The only other topic to speak of is my deeply personal life - the one that involves my interaction with other people. I don't really talk about that a lot. I will way that this year has been an eye-opener in terms of interpersonal relationships. My mother, who had been an alcoholic for many years, put herself into treatment and is doing well. I hope this is her step down the road to happiness. My relationship with Seth has taught me some very important lessons about love and living intimately with another person. As I have gotten older, I am more in tune with my own needs and, you know what, I am very self-focused. I don't take this as a bad thing, however, just something I need to recognize before I subject it onto someone else. My friendship with Antonio has gotten better too. With Antonio, I realized that I enjoy having my best friend to be there all the time and to know that no matter what I say or do, he's always going to stick up for me. He's black and I am white and our friendship stands as a metaphor because although we can be opposite, we compliment each other. Without one there could not exist the other. I am sure I will write more here eventually. In the meantime, check out some pictures. . . PICTURE PAGES or GO HOME |