Friday, March 06, 2009

En Route to my Hiram College Tenth Year Reunion

2009 commemorates ten years since my 1999 college graduation and I am using my blog to chronicle my feelings about returning to campus.

Hiram was not my first choice. Howard University in Washington, DC was my first choice but I did not have the backbone that I do now so I did what my mother said. She had an ulterior motive which was to prove certain people at her workforce that she could afford to send her daughter to a private school. That was why I disliked it so much. However I managed to create my own life by interning in Washington, DC which was where I currently worked. Needless to say my mother did not like that idea because she was not in control of it. Essentially, she did not like any idea that she did not understand, be it graduate school to earn a second degree or travel to London to accumulate international business experience or relocate here to DC. Prior to DC, I worked at Cuyahoga County and that gave her bragging rights because she could afford it on a clerk’s salary. Working in my major messed her whole fantasy up because she could not control the outcome. Hey! It was my life!

That is a little back story about post-graduation life. Now as I enter my third year as a government economist, the fed will make me a career permanent employee and fully vest my retirement. On the cusp of this milestone, I look at my career progress. In three short years I have gone from GS-9 to GS-12, completing the agency’s mentoring and within one month will graduate from ALDP. In the duration I have broaden my professional networks by joining several economist organizations and have kept my NBMBAA membership up to date. Participating in seminars have helped me stay current of my profession which in turn makes me more successful.

Now as I return to Hiram College I will run into the same, old classmates (Hopefully everyone will still have their jobs but given that BLS reports February 2009 has seen 651,000 unemployed, I highly doubt it! Personally, I think that the mixer will turn into an impromptu job session which I am happy to help because the government is hiring!). The one thing that I will do is bury old emotions and realize that the Carla at age 21 is not the Carla at age 31.

I Wish You Well, I Guess? I Dunno

I have accomplished a lot today! I have submitted my ALDP forms so that my matrix spreadsheet will not be blank. Financial empowerment: Saturday I will deposit $375 to replenish my savings account. Tuesday, I will open my online savings account to stash away more money. In addition, next week I will calculate my bills, register for my Hiram College tenth year reunion, and submit my ALDP management interviews and developmental assignment impact paper.

Later this evening, I am happy to have spoken to my friend about her predatory lending situation because I really want to hear what transpire. For three weeks, I have tried to text message her but to no avail. However, she has notified me that she has bought a new cell phone (figures!). Listening to her, I realize that those silly teenage boys are nothing to the very real problems that she has (Although they will probably be in juvenile detention this summer)! Therefore, I am grateful for the problems that I do have: no predatory mortgage, crazy people particularly family whom I can keep at a distance and not having to deal with bill collectors. However, Ellen’s plight just makes me more of an advocate.