Raisons d'Etre

{Gratituesday: July 24, 2012}

It has been a really long time since I have done any of my weekly memes. This job has been ridiculously busy, crazy, and most of the time really great, but it hasn’t left much time for Tumblr-ing or much else.

So while I am waiting to head over to the dining hall for lunch…I am grateful for:

• All the amazing people I’ve been working with the past four weeks and will continue to work with for the next three.
• Having the opportunity to have such a baller summer gig, despite the inherent challenges. I don’t know of any other job with free housing, free meals, a salary, and the opportunity to chaperone trips to crazy awesome places (e.g. NYC, Broadway shows) and get paid for it. Plus I’m getting some awesome campus programming and teaching experience.
• That my parents are trying to be helpful in my apartment search back in Chicago while I’m on the East Coast. When I get back I’ll have two weeks to find a place to live, so they’re trying to make it easier for me by trying to narrow some places down.
• That I’ll get to see my puppy in 3 weeks! I miss her like crazy. I’m also grateful for the people who bring their puppies to the park every morning so I can at least get some puppy playtime in my day, even though it’s not my puppy.
• To being healthy and having a rockstar immune system. A lot of the staff and the students have come down with all sorts of crazy illnesses while they’ve been here, and I’ve made it through thus far (knock on wood) with just a few brief sore throats and/or being nauseous for a few hours (or the minor headache/stomach ache I have right now). I haven’t been knocked out with bronchitis or the stomach flu that other people have had, so I’m very happy about that, especially considering we all share drinks when we go out and live in close quarters. 
• Having a night off tonight - it will either be spent catching up on sleep or at weekly trivia, depending on how much energy I conjure up after I’m done teaching and meeting for the day.

{Gratituesday: June 26, 2012}

I almost forgot about it! I have no concept of time or what day it is or anything. Between jet lag, time zone changes (albeit a change of one hour) and being thrown right into work craziness, I don’t know which way is up. But nevertheless…

Today I am grateful for:

• This amazing experience I’ve had in New England thus far for my summer job. I’m loving it. It’s just going to get more crazy, but hopefully it stays as awesome as it’s been the past three days.
• Officially accepting my full-time job that I’ll be starting in the fall. I have my start date solidified, and have scheduled my orientation with HR.
• The opportunity to apparently be interviewed for an alumni magazine on successful alumni. I was not aware that I was considered a successful alumni, but I will take it!
• My graduate assistantship being cool about me backing out of the position I agreed to for next year in order to take the full-time job. I work with cool people (or rather I would have worked with cool people. But, I’m sure my new coworkers will also be awesome).

Lots of work-related things this week!

Stay tuned for more pictures and stories once I get a chance to breathe.

{Gratituesday: June 19, 2012}

Today I am grateful for:

• An amazing job offer that came in yesterday.
• Rockstar dancers who have been making teaching my summer dance concert piece in just 3 rehearsals super easy and not at all stressful.
• Being able to work with awesome dancers at my old dance studio last week when I subbed a class, which I’ll be doing again tomorrow. 
• The challenge of working and living somewhere completely new (Connecticut) for two months this summer. I leave on Saturday, so this is my last gratituesday from good ol’ Chicago for a long time.
• That for once everything is coming together and working out well. It sure took a long time to get here, but I’m excited for everything that is happening (at least professionally). Here’s hoping nothing comes along to screw it up :P

{Gratituesday: June 5, 2012}

Today I am grateful for:

• Being done with classes until next year :)
• My dad agreeing to drive me to the airport at 4am when I leave for my summer job
• Having a pretty decent first meeting with my future boss (for next fall) and the person currently in the position
• Being able to see friends I haven’t seen in awhile later this week
• Moving out of my apartment tomorrow and having some time at home before I leave for two months.

{Gratituesday: May 29, 2012}

Today I am grateful for…

• Being done with one of my least favorite classes ever as of 9pm tonight. Just a few final edits on my final paper to go, and then it’s all over.
• Having *most* of the long weekend to myself when my roommate went to her boyfriend’s family’s house for the weekend. My introverted, stressed out self loves solitude, especially after the nightmare that was Friday night in my apartment
• That I move out of my apartment one week from tomorrow and will hopefully be rather stress free until I leave for New England
• An intense job interview I have tomorrow, and my favorite dance class tomorrow night.
• Having the opportunity to be involved with an amazing freshman development program this spring at work. The graduation ceremony is later this week (a full post will be made on my grad school blog at some point).

{Gratituesday: May 22, 2012}

Barely making this post before Tuesday is over. Crazy day! Anyway. Today I am grateful for:

• The opportunity to teach and work with five amazing freshmen in a leadership course (today was the last day)
• To almost be done with my first year of my new grad program
• To have accepted a position for next year which will make the next few months and next year much less stressful
• For the opportunity to live in New England this summer for 2 months (I’m getting super excited, but also very anxious.)
• To be able to teach a few dance classes at my old studio in the next few weeks.
• For my [generally decent] health. I found out tonight a young woman I know is going through ovarian cancer, and that’s terrifying. She’s younger than I am.

{Gratituesday: May 15, 2012}

Today I am grateful for:

• Two lovely dinners out with my parents and brother over the weekend
• The few headache-free hours I had over the weekend (really ready to not have my headache anymore)
• Being able to choreograph for the summer dance concert even though I won’t be there
• Having a few possible job offers for the upcoming year

A great way to give thanks…

middlechildcomplex:

for the privileges we’ve got is to do important work.

Your job, your internet access, your education, your role in a civilized society… all of them are a platform, a chance to do art, a way for you to give back and to honor those that enabled you to get to this point.

For every person reading this there are a thousand people (literally a thousand) in underprivileged nations and situations that would love to have your slot. Don’t waste it.

"Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude."

- Ralph W. Emerson (via storehousesladenwithsnow)

(Source: thelittlecorner, via gloryandglitter)