One of the perks of living on campus at ODU is that there is a variety of jobs for students right here on campus. One can get job placement through financial aid rewards or get a regular job through various departments on campus. I have taken advantage of these opportunities to both my delight and displeasure. For whatever reason, I decided that having two jobs at the same time on top of being a full-time student was a great idea. I slowly learned that though it is great for my bank account, it is not fun at all.
I originally started my freshman year with a seasonal job working 2-4 nights a week for only a few weeks each semester as a Phonathon caller. This was not a difficult job or a time- consuming one at that, so it was a perfect job for my freshman year. Then, my sophomore year, I decided to take on a job that would last the entire school year, so that my paydays would be more frequent and thus, my financial situation more stable. I got a job working at the Information Desk in our Student Center through Financial Aid in the Work Study program. I made a little more than minimum wage and my boss was very laid back. I was only scheduled to work 3 times a week for 2-3 hours at a time. It was a nice and easy job though it did get really boring, but it was nice being able to basically get paid for sitting at a desk and just working on school work while I waited to assist visitors to our Student Center.
At the end of my Sophomore year, the school got rid of the Concierge position in the Student Center and so my boss offered me a job as an ambassador which would still be through the Admissions department and could still qualify as a work-study position and would pay a little more money as a level 3 position. I was hired as soon as I said 'yes' without applying or anything. My boss also encourage me to apply to be a student blogger which I did and so again, I had two jobs, but these two jobs required a lot more of me than the phonathon and information desk. I had to be trained for both and they each required a tight shedule and a lot of committment. It was a good way to start off my Junior year though. It kept me busy so I wasn't bored and helped me prepare for the kinds of jobs I might have when I graduate and go out into the real world.
The blogger position was eliminated after only one semester of me working as a blogger. I was worried that I wouldn't be making as much money as I had gotten used to with two pretty well-paying jobs, so I applied at the library and got that position, but for the first time, I was not working between 2 and 4 days a week varying by week, but rather, I was working every single morning Monday-Friday for the entire semester. It was the shift the library most desperately needed a worker for and I would be getting a decent amount of hours, so I took it in addition to my ambassador position and since they are both level 3 jobs, I am making a really decent amount of money, but I am exhausted from working so often without any large amount of time in between to recooperate. At least my Saturday class is over now and tomorrow is the last Visitation Day of the year, so I will have my Saturdays free to rest now and my Cofirmation class should be over after Sunday, so my Sundays will be freed up pretty soon as well which will be a big help especially when finals roll around in just a month and a half!
I think that having a job and pushing yourself to build a good work ethic and self-motivation is a really big part of growing up and I think college is a great time to begin working on skills like this that will help you in the future especially in your career. ODU definitely makes it easy for students to find their own spot in the workplace right here on campus. I think every student should try to take advantage of the good fortune of ODU and make that transition into the workforce right here on campus if possible, but remember not to overwork yourself or take on more than you can handle.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Lent
Well, Ash Wednesday is tomorrow. It's weird that Lent and Easter are so late this year, but yet, they still manage to sneak up on me. It's weird having Ash Wednesday be during Spring Break. I also completely forgot about Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday which is fine, because I am super sick anyway and probably would not have been up for too much fattening up haha. Apparently, Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church. It is a Mass more heavily attended by Catholics than Christmas Mass though which is very odd. I'd still like to make it to Mass tomorrow, but I am glad it is not an obligation day since it is very hard for me to get to Mass when I'm at home and there isn't a chapel conveniently located across the parking lot from me.
I still haven't finalized my lenten promises for this year, but after viewing my bank statement tonight, I think I'm definitely going to cut back on personal spending for Lent and try not to buy myself anything I don't need for a while since I just took myself out on a hundred dollar shopping spree which was a terrible decision. Luckily, I get paid Friday and I don't think I should be needing to buy much for a while. I also think it would be great to dedicate some extra time to prayer since I am in preparation for getting confirmed and I think prayer would definitely help me in readying myself to receive this sacrament. In addition to prayer, I think I'm also going to try to study the lives of some saints to help me in choosing a name to be my confirmation name.
Last year, I also made myself read some amount of Bible verses each day for Lent and I think that was a really great idea, so I may try doing that again this year. I usually try to do some combination of things to help myself in my faith life, so hopefully, I'll find a good mix of things to give up and take on this lenten season. I thought about giving up facebook like many of my peers, but I tried that last year and it was rough at first, but by the end of Lent, I didn't really miss it and now, I can go days without checking my facebook, so I feel like giving it up wouldn't do much for me at this point in my life. I will probably also force myself to write or blog every day during Lent just because it is something I want to do more of and just haven't gotten myself to make a habit of yet, so hopefully, these next 40 days will be filled with more blog posts for you all to read!
If anyone has any good ideas that maybe you've tried in the past or are doing this year for Lent that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear suggestions or just help you stay accountable during this Lenten season. Good luck and God bless!
I still haven't finalized my lenten promises for this year, but after viewing my bank statement tonight, I think I'm definitely going to cut back on personal spending for Lent and try not to buy myself anything I don't need for a while since I just took myself out on a hundred dollar shopping spree which was a terrible decision. Luckily, I get paid Friday and I don't think I should be needing to buy much for a while. I also think it would be great to dedicate some extra time to prayer since I am in preparation for getting confirmed and I think prayer would definitely help me in readying myself to receive this sacrament. In addition to prayer, I think I'm also going to try to study the lives of some saints to help me in choosing a name to be my confirmation name.
Last year, I also made myself read some amount of Bible verses each day for Lent and I think that was a really great idea, so I may try doing that again this year. I usually try to do some combination of things to help myself in my faith life, so hopefully, I'll find a good mix of things to give up and take on this lenten season. I thought about giving up facebook like many of my peers, but I tried that last year and it was rough at first, but by the end of Lent, I didn't really miss it and now, I can go days without checking my facebook, so I feel like giving it up wouldn't do much for me at this point in my life. I will probably also force myself to write or blog every day during Lent just because it is something I want to do more of and just haven't gotten myself to make a habit of yet, so hopefully, these next 40 days will be filled with more blog posts for you all to read!
If anyone has any good ideas that maybe you've tried in the past or are doing this year for Lent that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear suggestions or just help you stay accountable during this Lenten season. Good luck and God bless!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Little Sibs Weekend 2011
As some of you may have noticed, I was able to finally cross out one of my goals for this semester: to have my little siblings come to ODU for Little Sibs Weekend! It was even more fun than I imagined it would be. I am so very blessed to have such wonderful little siblings! I was more than excited to show off my sweet little sibs to all of my friends :) and everyone seemed to love them as much as I do! My little sister (who is 7) made so many new friends and she was so excited to go home and tell everyone how awesome her weekend with her favorite sister was!
For those of you readers who are not familiar with ODU's Little Sibs Weekend, I am very happy to tell you all about it. In a nutshell, this is a weekend where students get to have their little siblings stay in the dorms with them and participate in a bunch of different and fun activities around campus including an indoor carnival, a movie night, a pancake breakfast, and many other super fun events. Every year, there are different events and everyone seems to have a lot of fun.
This year was my first Little Sibs Weekend on campus, so I was really excited that my siblings were able to come down for it. This year, Student Activities had a Kinect video game session right after registration followed by a Karaoke night the first night. Then, on Saturday, Little Sibs were invited to go see a Children's musician, but since I was in class, one of my wonderful suitemates took my sibs with hers to see the musician and apparently, they loved it! After that, I had my siblings come to my class to meet my teacher and have some snacks at our last day of class party. Sister Fatula was so happy to have them! Then, we all went to lunch together and headed to the Carnival in the student center. The carnival was probably the best part of the whole weekend especially for the kids. There was so much free stuff! My brother must have eaten at least 4 or 5 cotton candys! They had face-painting, an inflatable obstacle course, balloon animals, sand art, decorate-yourself cookies and coffee mugs, free popcorn, candy jewelry making, a raffle, cupcakes, musical chairs, snow cones, a caricature artist, and a free photo booth! My little sister won a huge pack of plato in the raffle and I won a shirt that I gave to my 17yearold sister who didn't make it to ODU this weekend since she had work and a test and whatnot.
There was also an ice cream social, a comedic juggler, and a movie night. We ended up watching a movie in my friend Katie's room though instead of going to the official movie night, but we did get to see the juggler and he was really talented and hilarious! My little siblings definitely loved his act a lot! My sister even got to go up and perform a trick with him!
Even though it was really exhausting babysitting for an entire weekend, I was really happy to get to see my siblings and I had a lot of fun with them. I am really glad that ODU has such fun events for our wonderful little sibs and I cannot wait for next year! :)
For those of you readers who are not familiar with ODU's Little Sibs Weekend, I am very happy to tell you all about it. In a nutshell, this is a weekend where students get to have their little siblings stay in the dorms with them and participate in a bunch of different and fun activities around campus including an indoor carnival, a movie night, a pancake breakfast, and many other super fun events. Every year, there are different events and everyone seems to have a lot of fun.
This year was my first Little Sibs Weekend on campus, so I was really excited that my siblings were able to come down for it. This year, Student Activities had a Kinect video game session right after registration followed by a Karaoke night the first night. Then, on Saturday, Little Sibs were invited to go see a Children's musician, but since I was in class, one of my wonderful suitemates took my sibs with hers to see the musician and apparently, they loved it! After that, I had my siblings come to my class to meet my teacher and have some snacks at our last day of class party. Sister Fatula was so happy to have them! Then, we all went to lunch together and headed to the Carnival in the student center. The carnival was probably the best part of the whole weekend especially for the kids. There was so much free stuff! My brother must have eaten at least 4 or 5 cotton candys! They had face-painting, an inflatable obstacle course, balloon animals, sand art, decorate-yourself cookies and coffee mugs, free popcorn, candy jewelry making, a raffle, cupcakes, musical chairs, snow cones, a caricature artist, and a free photo booth! My little sister won a huge pack of plato in the raffle and I won a shirt that I gave to my 17yearold sister who didn't make it to ODU this weekend since she had work and a test and whatnot.
There was also an ice cream social, a comedic juggler, and a movie night. We ended up watching a movie in my friend Katie's room though instead of going to the official movie night, but we did get to see the juggler and he was really talented and hilarious! My little siblings definitely loved his act a lot! My sister even got to go up and perform a trick with him!
Even though it was really exhausting babysitting for an entire weekend, I was really happy to get to see my siblings and I had a lot of fun with them. I am really glad that ODU has such fun events for our wonderful little sibs and I cannot wait for next year! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)