Marathon

Running and excelling at my own Fortune 500 firm is a marathon. Remember this’ll consume years of my life and I am intent upon putting my all into it. These elements to create the molecule called my business are school, creativity, and financial management. Attending UDC to strengthen my analytical knowledge will get me into Harvard, acing my work will enable me to win the GS-11 Economist promotion and a spot in the Aspiring Leaders Development Program.

Within two weeks, I will be thirty entering my fourth decade of life and with one-third of my life finished, I am seeking new challenges to grow and become a better person. During my first twenty-nine years on this earth, I have learned that quick fixes never work. Actually, I end up digging bigger holes over these misadventures but age and wisdom correct everything. Now I am more insightful about my future and more demanding of respect because I have earned it without stepping on people to advance (That’s big with me!).

Midterm Progress

Giving my fifth speech, I realize that I am halfway through my first manual. It gives me a lot of confidence to go farther. Since I will celebrate my thirtieth birthday in Miami, maybe I should email the local club to give it there. Throughout this year, I have conducted thorough self-examination on how I want to live out my fourth decade on this earth. I want to become a philanthropist through my book scholarship, an investor with a multi-million dollar portfolio by age 39, a wife and mother, a doctor and a homeowner.

Adventures in Interviewing

Since my boss did not explicitly say that I would automatically receive my promotion, I started interviewing to secure my raise. During a one week period, I had three interviews and here were the summaries:

July 17, 2007

I interviewed for the economist position with another federal agency but scratch it off because of the 20 minute walk (It was too dependent upon the 71 bus.). My boss questioned me about my three-hour absence. Well, that would not happen Wednesday because the next one is off of L’Enfant Plaza.

July 18, 2007

This interview went way better than the other one because I did not have to hike 20 minutes to and from the appointment (Sidebar: DC Mayor Adrian Fenty was at the Greenleaf Recreational Center, the very one I pass en route to my interview, to endorse Barack Obama. How cool was that! At least there was not a tragedy. :). After my afternoon break, I will type and mail my thank you letters.

July 25, 2007

The interviewer gave me the creeps during our interview. I did not want to work for him because he gave weird pauses and openly challenged my decision to become an Economist with “When do you think you determine a raise? (Hey, watch already!). I answered all of his questions but that was the second time that I felt that the interview was confrontational. However, regarding the regression analysis, I gave him an advanced answer which brought me back into form. At the conclusion of the interview, he told me that he wanted a cleaner version of my resume besides what USAJOBS gave him. Afterward I sent him a copy then I divulged all of the goodies to my friend who called during the interview and left a voicemail.

Opportunity Journal Entry #10: Transferring

During the http://www.blogger.com/ snafu, a lot of opportunity has come my way. I have lined up interviews at both the Washington, DC and Cleveland, Ohio educational opportunity centers to review my options. The first meeting produced an extremely unlikely outcome: applying to the DC state college. Please read the passage below:

July 9, 2007

Initially I thought that the DC EOC meeting was nearly a huge waste of my time because the counselor already told me what I’ve already known about researching scholarships. However, during this time I contemplated about whether or not to attend AU because my goal was to complete my master’s thesis and if I cannot do this then I would enroll at the state school and reviewed my options. Yet, the professor was tenured professor so I would remain here (I had just emailed her about her research specialties because I wanted to get as many references as possible. Once again, it looked like I might be taking three courses this summer in order to assemble my panel.

July 10, 2007

Last night I wrote out my plan to drop AU because it offered me an opportunity to conduct research and saved me a lot of money and grief. My AU advisor emailed me about meeting to which I responded that I could see her next Tuesday at 11:30am. By then I would had requested all of my transcripts. Since my transcript request had not gone through because the address was not changed, I’d probably would have to submit it by mail or fax. Well, at least I should receive it by late July well ahead of the August 2nd, deadline. I will be accepted!

Traveling to the state college helped me a lot especially when my financial aid counselor told me that it had not processed fall aid yet. Immediately upon returning to my office, I filed my finanical aid and added the school. Therefore, by next week, the school should receive it and my aid can be calculated. In addition, I spoke to the scholarship coordinator and left a voicemail for the person who has the foundation scholarship applications. Having returned from typing thank you letters, I realized the abundance of opportunity available. Now I will cancel my attendance at tomorrow’s Toastmasters meeting because I needed to meet with Edna to obtain those scholarship applications. This was important besides my next speech was within two weeks!

The divisional manager emailed me saying that his boss approved the majority of my fall tuition grant which I was grateful for but if I did not receive a satisfactory answer from Professor Reynolds regarding my master’s thesis then I would resubmit my training request. Since my entire academic year costs $3,000, of course, they would approve this! :)

July 11, 2007

I am putting everything together. During this time, I will obtain more information, prepare my transfer credit defense by copying syllabi and aligning them with the state college's courses, and creating a budget to pay for all of my books even though the agency will pay for it.

During my commute, I initially thought about taking a couple of CLEP courses (specifically American history) to save money. Then I realized that this method could had been used to compensate for the lack of transfer credit. My goal was to graduate in 2009 debt free just in time for Harvard! Furthermore, I will register for either an independent study or a research seminar every semester to strengthen my analytical ability and publish material. By graduation, I will have eight papers. Ask Dr. Steadman about taking these courses each semester.

This three-day saga is far from over but it has taught me the importance of resiliency (the meeting never materialized because I was in a meeting when she called), time management, and keeping my eyes peeled for all future opportunities such as next week's slate of events. I will keep you posted!

Drive

Drive (v.t.): to force to go; push forward; impel; to force to work, usually to excess.

Genealogy fuels my drive to outperform everyone. It’s the reason behind applying for GS-11 Economist positions because I cannot be stopped! This drive propels me to a BA, London, MBA and traveling numerous times to take both the BEA and BLS Economist assessment exams multiple times.

During these moments, doubt often crept into my mind especially while working temporary jobs because taking off work meant losing money. However, I had this vision to become an Economist. This conviction is similar to Robert Kiyoshi who slept on friends’ couches while amassing his empire; and, after everything that had happened to me I would not exchange any hardships because the setback made me stronger producing a steely resolve directly attributed to my drive.

Furthermore, I am taking a more active role in assembling my master’s thesis because if I am paying that kind of money then I will research my thesis! I’ve called the secretary about who has taught ECON 505 (it happen to be an adjunct faculty who hasn’t taught at AU). Disappointed I tell her my frustration and she asks if I have an advisor to which I respond No. She then tells me that my advisor is Professor Reynolds whom I’ll email because haste makes waste.

Career in Motion

I have completed my component and remembered yesterday’s journal entry about being grateful for the opportunity to work as an Economist. Within economics as one of the hottest majors around and there are only 500 slots available, therefore, I am mindful of the fact that I have this plum position and am working in my major!

Good news: Another agency has deemed me best qualified both the its domestic and merit economist positions meaning that I should receive an interview by mid-July. I am so happy because by the end of July I will have at least three economist offers.