career
Careers in the industry; from corporate to middle management, food service, media, political figures, and beyond. All workplace careers.
False Impressions
When I was young, I saw a lot of things... Almost all of them were more good than bad, but still a lot of things... I saw a lot of very nice cars... Fairly moderate houses in middle-class neighborhoods... Most-Everyone wearing exquisite clothing... But the thing that stood out to me, wasn't WHO had it, or WHY they had it; It was HOW they received what they had, and that we were told you could achieve ANYTHING in the world... IF you put your mind to it. If you gave it your absolute EVERYTHING and you didn't care about anything else...
By Logan Miller8 years ago in Journal
The Importance of Art Commissions
There is millions of artwork available on the internet; sadly there is a plethora of artwork that's been stolen or insufficient credit or permission has been used. Stolen fan work being sold at conventions is still something that I sadly see a lot of the time. There are lots of talented artists out there trying to make a living out of something they are passionate about, and they should be allowed to do that. Commissions are a big source of income for a lot of artists.
By Chloe Gilholy8 years ago in Journal
One Day
One day as a nurse will forever change a person. We cry, we laugh, we make very inappropriate jokes in order to cope. From cleaning up fecal matter to reviving someone back to life, we never know what assignment we'll be managing. The angles that must be considered when going into nursing are infinite; there will always be something new to learn.
By Shealynn Dubrule8 years ago in Journal
Notes from a Site Engineer 4
Some site roles are, as mine was, primarily observational in nature. This means that you will spend very little time doing actual physical work of any kind, and an awful lot of time standing around watching other people work. Yes, I was that kind of site engineer. I supervised other people doing the 'hard graft.' I know that, in general, that does not make me the most popular person on site. I came to terms with that a long time ago. I made up for this lack of popularity with my sparkling wit and personality (definitely a joke, I made up for it mostly by being the clumsy goofball).
By Fiona Wark8 years ago in Journal
Notes from a Site Engineer 3
Before you all scoff and tell me I'm ridiculous - 'what are you on about - dirt! Stupid woman!' - let me tell you one thing. Apparently, not everyone walks onto an earthworks project or a construction site expecting them to be dirty. I had one graduate in particular who actually expressed it as 'it's so dirty' about the site that we were both on. I will admit, my eye roll at this observation was hard enough to give me a headache. Admittedly, because it was a remedial project and an old landfill as well as an earthworks site, that site was more probably more dirty than some. Sites are not hospital wards or microbiology laboratories. Dirt is, let's be honest, very much the nature of the beast.
By Fiona Wark8 years ago in Journal
Government Jobs for History Majors
Back when I was in college, one of the first classes I took was with a New Jersey history professor. When we had our first class, he told us about how he chose a doctorate in New Jersey history, and how his parents "basically expected him to live in their basement forever."
By Ossiana Tepfenhart8 years ago in Journal
My Adventures in Elderly Care
At the age of 18, I graduated high school months earlier than my class, so I had free time to work and do other things with my life I had been severely ready to enjoy. One of the things I had never tried, led me to work in an elderly care facility, unfortunately as a laundry attendant. My shifts consisted of 4 AM -12 PM and/ or 11 AM - 6 PM, five days a week, and in that time I learned a lot about what growing old is all about.
By Raven Rose8 years ago in Journal
Notes From a Site Engineer 2
I'm clumsy. I'm not clownishly clumsy to the point no one trusts me to carry things. I'm not cute clumsy either. I'm big, blundering, blunt instrument clumsy. I have always blamed it on being tall, it often feels like my brain doesn't really know what my feet are doing. So, I have a tendency to blunder into things, and this blundering is both metaphorical and literal. I feel, however, I cannot be alone in this. There must be others who venture on site who are the same way inclined.
By Fiona Wark8 years ago in Journal
Notes from a Site Engineer
Here's a little secret: as a graduate engineer, I hated site work. I had to be pushed and poked and prodded until I left the office. I resisted all attempts to send me to site. I preferred the office ivory tower, sitting behind a desk writing reports and sending emails. I did not grab life on site with both hands. I must have been an absolute nightmare for my seniors to manage. Looking back, I know the reasons why I was the way I was, and I can understand anyone else entering the industry who feels the same way as I did. I want to tell them—it's OK. Nobody expects you to be perfect and nobody expects you to know everything and nobody expects you to exude confidence from every pore from the second you are sent on site. Confidence, or the ability to fake being confident, comes naturally to some people and less so to others. It does not come naturally to me, and if you're in the same boat as I am, then you're not alone. Never let this industry of big characters and machismo make you think everyone knows exactly what they're doing all of the time. They don't. Some of the time, just like you will be, they're winging it.
By Fiona Wark8 years ago in Journal
