Movin' up

This week, I got moved from a cubicle to my own office at work. Sweet! I'm moving up in the world, and I'll be at that corner office with a view in no time. 


Technically speaking, it is an office with two desks in it, but no one else is in the office at the moment. That makes it my own office for the time being. Having a door is as wonderful as I imagined, yes. It has windows, too, but they are with a lovely view of the trucks at the loading dock, so I wouldn't get too excited about that if I were you. 


I've been working on grad school applications lately. Unfortunately, that means less time to upload pretty pictures of desserts to my blog, but I think it will work out for the best in the end :) I think it's fun to think about the future and the possibilities. I like talking to people about different ideas for what I could do or what there is to learn. People have been giving me lots of encouragement on all aspects of the application process, which I definitely appreciate.  It's satisfying, also, when I can find a program (there are a few) that will fit both my location and program requirements. Now, I just have to get accepted. Reading the bios of some of the students at these places is a humbling experience!


There are so many considerations around money, location, program concentration, and deadlines. It can be overwhelming, although I'm trying to keep calm about it. I'm looking for something in an urban area, but also something that fits my specific interests in health behavior, health communication, and new media. It's heart-breaking to look at a school that would be in my dream location, and then realize they either just don't have the program I want, and vice versa. Well, as they say when apartment hunting in DC, "cheap, near a metro, or clean, pick one." Like it or not, I will have to face some tough choices in the next few months; one of which might be to either stay in DC or to move next year.


Every day I wake up and have a different opinion about where I want to be in a year and what I want my program to look like. For example, do I want to try to work and go to school part-time, or do I want to go full time? That's a tough one for me right now. 


At least the one thing that is stable right now are my program interests. It's taken me a long time to get to that point. I explored many different fields--and many of them weren't right for me and gave me the uneasy feeling that it wasn't what I was meant to do. Now, I feel like I am doing something that works for me and my skills, and not just what seems "cool" or "somewhat interesting."


Well, if anyone has any advice to share, I could use it! Honest thoughts and comments are welcome.

Reflection: If you see something, say something?

Recently, I was at an event where heard more judgmental, disrespectful, and prejudiced comments than I have heard in a long time. Where was I? No, I wasn't on the street, wasn't at a school, I wasn't at a political or religious event, wasn't anywhere that you'd be prepared to come across blatantly judgmental attitudes.

I was at a professional meeting of highly educated individuals, some of who publicly made what I found to be grossly intolerant remarks - all justified in the name of "science" and "research."

I won't talk here about what the comments themselves were, because I think it's more productive to talk about this in a way that could apply to anyone. I imagine everyone reading this has, at some point, heard something that struck them as intolerant, even though they might have felt like they were in the minority for feeling that way.

As I have mentioned before, I love my work and have nothing but good things to say about my direct colleagues, who are mostly open-minded folks. However, I can't always expect everyone in my field outside my office to have the same open-mindedness. That's just part of life, and I accept that.

At the same time, when I hear experts in my field making what I find to be prejudiced assumptions, it makes my blood boil.  More importantly, what makes me angry is when I hear disrespectful comments being made to an audience and from people in trusted positions. 

The question is, when you see or hear something that you find to intolerant or prejudiced, do you say something? 

One option is to not say anything. If you're not in a position of authority, saying something might backfire on you. It might be considered just as disrespectful to disagree with someone who's considered an expert. If he or she is established in his or her career, they may not really listen to what you have to say or be unwilling to change his or her mind. (BUT why should we assume that?)

What recourse you have instead, perhaps, is not to confront anyone in front of an audience - since they will probably feel attacked, but to mention your feelings to friends and other trusted individuals, or to that person alone, and slowly foster tolerance instead of intolerance. 

At the same time, I can think of more than a few examples where people's unwillingness to speak up to a person of authority has actually caused serious damage. Think about all the stories in the news about how workers come out after a disaster saying, "I knew it was wrong, but my boss told me to comply and to do it anyway, or I'd be fired." 

That's the principle here. We KNOW that not speaking up can cause harm to a lot of people, and that our "that's NOT ok" senses are pricked off for a reason. And it just takes one person speaking up to let other people know that it's also OK to speak up. So, there is the option to speak up and say something, and hope that this person will never dare again to say such cruel remarks, and also let other people know that there are other points of view. 

The other question is, if you are bothered by the attitude of the "field," is it worthwhile to stay in that field? 

On one hand, yes, you could go somewhere else, to be among like-minded people, who mostly accept and agree with your beliefs and values. That would certainly be less stressful, and you might get more done working together. Conversely, though, you might end up preaching to the choir, deepening the differences between the two groups, and not getting your message across to anyone else in the meantime. 

On the other hand, you could stay where you are, and contend with the reality that you're going to face people who are intolerant of your views. You know that you will face times when you might be better off not saying anything, and times when you will be better off speaking up. You have to pick your battles, but you also have a better chance of influencing people with different points of view. 

Of course, I don't have the answers to this, and these are just a few ideas I have for these situations. In the spirit of opening a dialogue, what are some of your thoughts and ways that you face situations like this? 

Reflection: What's a great job?

Finding a great job. That's what everyone wants, right? A great job could mean high pay, reasonable hours, a nice boss, a short commute, or interesting work. Personally, I think DC is a wonderful place to find lots of those checkboxes, but I might be a little bit biased. I feel lucky that I have always had jobs that I enjoy doing. What is it about great jobs that make them so great? Here's a few that I thought of - mostly inspired by my current job, but drawn upon some great experiences I've had in the past as well.

1. Learning about the field: My workplace hosts MANY seminars, meetings, and courses, in which people both inside and outside of our office speak about their work. I chose this current job over another one partially because of opportunities like this - and I'm really glad I did. 

2. Accepting attitudes towards other coworkers: Different backgrounds and perspectives are really welcomed. I think it goes beyond a hackneyed "diversity mission statement" in that there really IS an effort to understand where other people are coming from.  I don't feel an attitude that someone "doesn't fit" because of a particular background or career goal. Also, most people are really nice. There's not a lot of negative office gossip.  

3. Reasonable hours:  While I sometimes work weekends, I always know ahead of time when it's going to be, and it's usually a reasonable number of weekends per month. The key is, I'm never pressured into working long or odd hours at the last minute. I am very glad that my time is respected, since it helps my sanity. I am better able to plan for my personal life and non-work interests, both of which are very important to me to maintain. 

4. Getting to work with people in the community. I work in research, and I love working with the people who volunteer for studies. I recruit them to come in, stay in contact with them throughout the recruitment process, and interact with them when they come in for the studies. This is interesting because I have first-hand experience with the participants' experiences in the study. I've learned a LOT this way, and I've gotten a perspective that people further removed from the day-to-day operations don't get. 

Other positive aspects which I will mention briefly:
-getting to work on different projects
-decent commute to where I live
-getting to have input on or greater responsibility in new projects
-getting respectable pay for work done

I am thinking about these things because one of my goals lately is to pay more attention to the positive parts of my daily life, and to give more acknowledgment to those things. I think talking about the job I do for most of my day is a natural place to start.

What are some of your thoughts on what makes a great job great? Any positive experiences that you've had that you'd like to share?