Week 2, Done!

Well, it seems that I have survived two weeks of work at my new place of employment. Let's recap:

My employment began with me being the first person to work on the first day...and everyday. Well, today we can count as an exception. I showed up at about ten after eight, and I was the second one there. Did I mention our days technically begin at 7:30? I think I'm ok with that though, although it is typically not my style to be tardy. But I know that as soon as things get rolling here, this is not going to be a typical job. Just overhearing some of the meeting times that will be set up in the fall, I'll be working until 10:00 or after most nights. I had better figure out how to be a night person again.

"Orientation" for new staff members is a term, that I have come to find, is used pretty loosely around UD. I think the working definition that they choose to use is something like throwing new people in their offices and saying, "Go!" Oh well. I had been warned of that in advance, so it shouldn't have shocked me. And for the most part, it doesn't matter too much. I just wander around the office asking random questions to random people until I get a reasonable answer.

Things I had to train myself how to do (so far):
-Logging into and using email
-Phone operations and voicemail
-Working hours and dress code
-Where to get my 40+ keys that I need

Things I was trained on (so far):
-The food in the break room is for everyone
-There's $1 refills for coffee and $5 lunch specials at Sylvia's

Despite the obvious rigors of the training schedule over the last two weeks, I feel that I have nonetheless picked up on a lot of things just from digging in. I have found a ton of files on my new computer that have proved themselves very helpful. I have an intern who knows a lot and is willing to share her knowledge with me. I have figured out some of the budget operations, a major achievement for someone who has never worked with a budget of more that a few thousand dollars. At UD they throw around a couple thousand on a single project, so you can about imagine the amount of money they're trusting me with.

So, all in all, I can say that the past two weeks have been a great experience for me. I'm getting a handle on things, asking questions, meeting new people, and learning new things everyday.