Annual Review

So I'm at work yesterday and get to that state of boredom on the computer that you just start clicking icons. One of the first I end up at is AOL Instant Messenger and begin viewing random profiles. I notice that my friend Mr. James Garza of Belton, Texas and Aggie engineering fame has posted an away message begging for emails. Currently experiencing a lull in the day, I jot out a quick note asking about his summer internship. This morning, I am greeted by an email that outlines Garza's feelings about the real world and the small serving he is getting of it for the next few months. Just as often happens with my blogs, my reply to him turned out to help me group together some of my latest thoughts about life in general. For that, Garza, I thank you. Trent had posted a comment about wanting to see more about how I "do things". Well, I can't think of anything better than my philosophy on how I try to handle my post-college activities that consume the majority of my time and effort. This next week I will have been working one year since I graduated last May. I'll be honest with you that I'm very proud of that. I'm proud of where I am and what I'm doing. I'm proud that once again in my life I've made a transition into a totally different environment around completely different people. After all, that's what being an adult all boils down to, doesn't it? Making the most out of the situation you end up in and doing what you can to steer your own destiny. Hope Garza doesn't mind that I'm converting the email I wrote to him today into a blog. Maybe this will help some of y'all with your taste of the real world this summer.

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Excerpt of an Email: Advice to Garza
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Well, glad to hear that you're getting a little taste of the real world work schedule past HEB hours, but I'm sure that some of your older family members have given you a few words of advice. Since I know you have nothing better to do at work than read manuals and emails, I'll give you a bit of my own. Hopefully it may help to tide you over this summer, but it should be a relief to re-read after graduation, too.

- Don't conform. You've probably already found that the majority of workers and the general population feels underpaid, underappreciated, yet overworked. They wallow around in their self-pity and get some sort of cheap thrill off of passing their gloom to someone else, especially a young person. You'll notice that the younger people are much more idealistic and optimistic about nearly any situation. It's like that for a purpose. They need us to spark the monotony that companies put themselves in. Without us, groups would dive-bomb into a rut and just get stuck there. Always keep yourself in check on the emotions you experience throughout the day. Are you frustrated because there really IS a problem with the system, or are you just imitating a learned behavior of sulking? I've always had the belief that if you don't voice a suggestion on how to fix the problem, then you have no right to whine about it. Much of what you experience throughout the day is your choice in how you react to it.

- Know your passion. Sure it was the P in BLIMPS, but it's the one that I think all the others can tie back into (by the way, you'll be surprised how much you can use AFC philosophy in the real world). Think about all the transitions you've made throughout the years. The most notable one recently was high school to college. There was something about what you've become involved in through college that tied to the general passion that you had coming out of high school. It's no different when you step out of academia and into corporate. You need to pinpoint what it is that you are passionate about; that one thing that can drive your day. Use that to help pick your job, but once you get there, do everything you can to find how your passion ties into your work. For example, I'm completely passionate about deeper relationships with people. From a certain angle, my whole job can be based on that. As a manager of a project, I am not the boss of any particular person or department, but I do have to motivate the resources that are given to me to make my job complete in a timely and profitable manner. The better I get to know someone, the more I can tailor my encouragement to drive them to the best ending possible. You'll learn your position quicker, your boss will be impressed, and you'll sky-rocket past all the low-lifes that feel more comfortable with their woe-is-me attitude than stretching themselves to react to the situation.

- Accept the realities. It took about nine months for me to get to the point that I felt like the work world was where I was supposed to be. I started visiting College Station and felt more and more removed. You're right, those early mornings do suck, and it becomes really frustrating that you only have time for dinner and about one activity when you get home before it's time for bed. But understanding that that is just how it is helps to ground you some. Professors preach so much theory that it is very difficult to see how different the practice of it all really is. True, the young people are the ones that should look for the possibility of maximizing a situation and taking out the parts that hinder productivity or morale, but there are certain truths you have to live with. Mornings are early. Work days are long. Weekends don't come soon enough. Life used to be so much easier. Really you only have three choices once you notice these things. You can pout and whine about how much more fun college was and how stressful and time-consuming work has turned out to be, you can do more research and take a job that fits what you're looking for, or you can accept that certain conditions are just part of your environment. Now you have to think in quarters, not semesters. Four years of college somehow led into forty years of work. For so long we focus on what we want to be when we "grow up" that we basically expect a throne and scepter when we cross that stage instead of a diploma. It will take time to get where you want to be. Pay your dues now and focus on your goals for the future.

It's good to hear that you are seeing the differences between college and the work world, because it will help soften the blow once you get there. You're going to meet a lot of unhappy people who had really high hopes and somehow lost them along the way. They shifted priorities somewhere along the line or just had the wind taken out of their sail by someone and never really chose to get back up. But it seems like the ones that are the most successful are those that are not afraid of decisions and choose to give it another shot when they fail. Knowing you, I don't think you'll have a problem with any of it. Just enjoy your summer internship for what it is and make the most out of your last year once you go back to school. Aggieland is in fact the greatest place on Earth, but be sure you use it as a starting point and not as a peak of your "glory days". As a wish for good luck, I leave you this quote that you've probably seen before. Talk to you soon.

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." - Unknown

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