The Recess... (welcome to the alcoves of my mind)

Update

I got offered the job.

I didn't take it.

New Zealand-ho.

posted by Megan at 9:38 a.m.

Opportunity knocks...I lock the door and hide in the basement.

Or at least sometimes it seems that way.

Last Friday I got an email from my PR prof, asking me if I’d found work and regardless of that, was I interested in applying for a job at his firm? A JOB, I say? In YOUR FIRM? Hells yes. Submit my CV ASAP and BTW I L-O-V-E Y-O-U...LOL (and pretty much any other capital letter I could think of).

My parents both had Friday off, and about 30 minutes later my Dad calls me at work and tells me some lady called from Delta Media and wants to set up an interview. I grab my cell phone, make a discrete exit from my office (uh...tell the boss I’m going to get more copy paper) and head for the nearest picnic table outside.

The interview is set up for Monday morning. Perfect, the boss is in Halifax, I won’t have to make an excuse. I’m told I’ll be tested on my writing skills and my French. Great (crap).

Monday morning arrives, I duck out and head downtown for the interview. Things sail along seamlessly. The conversation is relaxed, my French actually comes out in coherent sentences, even Bernie pops his head in to say hello and give me an extra thumbs-up in the eyes of his boss. Shortly after I’m handed a report and a backgrounder on one of the firm’s clients, am shut in a tiny office for an hour and am told to produce a press release and a list of types of reporters who might be interested in it.

After I’m done, she asks me if I have any questions. The job sounds perfect, I say, but what’s the bottom line here?

KA-BOOM!! I’ve never been in a war-zone, but bombs of disappointment can’t be much less destructive than the physical ones (although they may be a little more localized...)

Rate of pay is $11/hr (major ouch compared to fat gov’t paycheques), and the full-time position Bernie eluded to in the email is actually a summer internship. According to the boss-lady, they "may" make it a permanent position, but they won’t know until September.

Ladies and gentlemen, behind Door #1 we have my current position: a government job that pays bucket-loads and is secure until the end of October (at the very least), but is not remotely challenging or related to my field.

Behind Door #2 we have the job of "Account Coordinator" at Delta Media: really cool PR position in which I will be thrown into the deep end, learn a tonne and possibly wind up with a career out of it. The catch? It pays in birdseed, may not end up being a full-time position, meaning I’ll be looking for work AGAIN come September, and (here's the heart-breaker) the pay cut means I won’t be going to New Zealand in January. Actually I probably wouldn’t be able to afford to do anything in January, and that includes moving out (I. Need. To. Move. Out.).

So, after four days of reflecting, (and realising that I'd much rather have a career in journalism than in public relations) I’ve decided not to take the job if it’s offered to me.


Ask me in six months whether or not I regret it.

posted by Megan at 3:27 p.m.

I've been convocated...

Well, I did it. If you had asked me four years ago if I thought this day would come, I would have honestly been doubtful. It’s been a long haul, but I finally got my degree.

Convocation was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I was originally toying with the idea of not going at all, that it was just going to be this lame thing where the dean tells us that the world is ours and to shoot for the stars and all sorts of other verbal diarrhea (which, granted, there was still a lot of). A walk across the stage, shake hands with a bunch of people you’ve never met, take 40,000 pictures you’ll probably never see again and then go to the reception where you’ll be greeted by tables filled with ham sandwiches, cocktail weenies and fruit punch.

Well, I got the gist of it right, but it still wasn’t quite as painful as I’d imagined.

I took my cousin Tash over early to show her the university and grab my gown and hood before the ceremony. At around 1:00 familiar faces started filing in, and I couldn’t turn around without hearing a boistrous "MEGAAAAAAAANN!!" from someone I hadn’t seen since the J4000 exam. Hugs all around and catching up on new jobs, lives, apartments etc. This was honestly my favourite part of the day.

We had to line up in alphabetical order before going onstage, which was fairly unpleasant for me because I landed squarely in front of Brooke Hunter, a not-so-long lost friend from first year. This girl can talk a mile a minute and 98% of it is about her. The hour-long wait before heading into the Field House would have been entirely intolerable if Lina hadn’t been just a few folks back in Ks to keep me sane.

Bachelor of Journalism degrees were the second-last to be conferred, so there was, again, a lot of waiting once we made it to our seats at the front of the hall. There were some highlights though. Nelofer Pazira, a Carleton Journalism grad who is best known for her work in Kandahar, a movie she produced and starred in about her journey back to her homeland of Afghanistan, was given an honourary doctorate. She gave a pretty awesome speech, and was able to very eloquently express her opinions without getting too political. I found her to be an extremely classy lady. The other speaker was Marc Garneau, our chancellor and the first Canadian in space. His was short and sweet, which was welcome after the slew of 15-minute + speeches from the dean and other faculty.

When it was our turn to go back stage to get our degrees, everyone started to get super-excited and energetic. Lindsey Neeley, always the class clown, started writing notes to various people and passing them up and down the line as we waited. Lee, who was way back with the Ms, Kelly, who was at the front in the As, and myself, nestled in the middle in the Hs found this to be the perfect time to holler out every inside joke we’d ever made, most of which included quotes from Anchorman and Eddie Murphy’s Delirious. Everyone was killing themselves laughing, and when we finally heard Marc Garneau announce that our degrees were next to be conferred, we couldn’t help but scream out at the top of our lungs. We had all worked far too hard to do this quietly. There was a standing ovation at the end of it all as well, complete with daggers shooting from the eyes of the Bachelor of Arts graduates in front of us, who seemed to be taking the whole ceremony just a wee bit too seriously.

The reception was also really fun. They had it outside at Alumni Park, where tents were set up (full of GOOD food! Like, smoked salmon and marinated chicken skewers...not a weenie in sight! :P) I announced to my family that they had exactly 15 minutes to take all the necessary pictures before I returned my gown/hood. It was frickin’ hot out and black polyester is not exactly the most breathable material. All of my grandparents were there (I had seven guests in total, the maximum amount allowed :S), and it was nice for them to finally meet all the people I had been talking about the last few years. There was also no shortage of the sentence "we’re so proud of you" which, despite being implied, is still nice to hear!

After the reception the fam came back to my place for a dinner of salads and shrimps on the BBQ. I opened some gifts (all of which were jewelry.(soooo sparkly...) And a new jewelry box from my parents for which to house said gifts).

After everyone left I was sooo tired, so I collapsed on the couch and watched the last period of the Stanley Cup final, complete with one very kick-ass short-handed goal by Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani. Game six should be quite the spectacle.

So there, in the long and the short of it, was the day I got my degree. I’m going to miss my j-school crew, but the great thing about journalism is that every time you open up a newspaper or magazine, or turn on the radio or TV, you just might find a familiar face, hear a familiar voice, and keep up with those who survived along with you.

It’s been a pleasure, j-schoolers. Keep in touch.

posted by Megan at 3:49 p.m.

Got work?

Song: Can't Let it Go
Artist: Goo Goo Dolls
Album: Let Love In

***

Well, looks like I'm employed again. I got another admin position in Health Canada, but at least the scenery's going to change a bit. I'm no longer in the Jeanne Mance Bldg. at Tunney's Pasture, I'm in the LCDC bldg...next door.

*Sigh*

Not sure if I'm happy about this, but work is work and money is money and without either I won't be able to get where I want to go...happiness really has very little to do with it at this point.

Although after spending grade school wishing I was in high school, spending high school wishing I was in university, and spending university wishing I could just get out into the world and make some cash, I can't really say I'm surprised that I'm still wishing for something. Knowing me I'll probably spend a year in New Zealand wishing I was back home.

Whatever. I start Monday.

posted by Megan at 11:05 p.m.

It’s hard to explain…he’s like a monkey.

Well, finally went to see X3 last night! I enjoyed it, though not nearly as much as the second one. There was a new blue character (they seem to feel the need to add someone blue to every film…)

X1: Mystique (coolest mutant EVER. I want her powers…and her body)





























X2: Nightcrawler (also very cool, with the WOOSHing and the almost killing the President and all that)














X3: Beast (mostly just blue and hairy. Had no idea what he did until about the last 20 minutes of the movie.)












(BTW: I am aware of the hilarity of this picture. I chose it because it went well with the subject heading of this post, which was Lawrence's explanation of Beast when I asked what his powers were...)

Anyway, it was cool. And I want to go back in time and be in whatever brainstorming session it was that they came up with all these crazy powers. From the last movie alone, I noticed mutants who could do the following:

-Create shockwaves by clapping
-Grow rhinoceros horns out of their wrists as projectiles
-Be a giant ember that blows hot smoke
-Extend and retract porcupine quills out of their entire body at will

And those were just the weird ones.

You know what I find odd though? The mutants only have powers that could be used as weapons…I mean if the mutation was THAT random, wouldn’t there be someone out there whose mutation was say…the ability to poop bunny rabbits? Or, being able to control the length of your nose-hair (which, granted, could be useful if you’re a 65-year old man…but otherwise not so much)? Talk about a raw deal eh? I think I’d rather be blue and have something cool than be normal-looking but have a crappy power.

Mostly I just want to be Mystique. That power would be waaaaaaaaay too much fun :D.

posted by Megan at 12:02 p.m.