Wednesday, December 19, 2012

a semester in the life

Perhaps you'd be interested in what I've been doing all season. If you're not, move along, because that's what's going to follow.

I worked three jobs, which fortunately mostly totaled about 35 hours per week.

OTS: I have a cubicle with mostly no natural light. It's not my favorite thing, but at least the overhead lights aren't fluorescent. I do web page edits and updates, plus a fair bit of technical writing and editing. Occasionally I get to design flyers, brochures, and once, a bookmark. I've spent the end of the semester revamping the pages for online safety and security. I also get a fair bit of free time to do homework etc. and my boss is really cool.

The theater: The schedule for this is completely irregular, but the time goes by the fastest because we're all over the place (and I get to do some work from home). We had events every two weeks or so during Fall semester, and I assisted my boss with a playwriting section she taught in a creative writing course. I help manage events in the theater and do pretty basic tech work in the booth -- I got to (sort of) learn the light board, which is cool. I also get to design the poster for the Spring play (a fair bit of my job is marketing -- I wrote a couple press releases, hung up flyers, put out posters, and designed a couple ads). There's a lot of free food and drink involved, and theater people (and my boss) are generally fun.

The library: This is my work-study job, and despite the fact that I don't need it, I'm still there because 1) it's easy -- I've just been working a few hours on Sundays, which mostly entails sitting at the circulation desk doing homework or reading while the main staffer gets work done elsewhere -- and 2) I feel a sort of loyalty to the place because they hired me when I first moved to Baltimore (after an interview and subsequent rejection by the housing office) and have been incredibly accomodating to my crazy schedule. Something will probably have to give in order to preserve my sanity next semester though, and this will probably be that something.

Then there's the school newspaper. I used to count it as a job, but despite the fact that I get paid a stipend, it's technically a Student Organization. We published issues once a month, and when everything's going smoothly I enjoy the whole process quite a bit, but we had several issues this semester, which stemmed largely from being under-staffed. I'm currently the Editor-in-Chief, which has upped my popularity (I use the term loosely) on campus even more than my high-profile library job. After this year though, I plan to step down to a less labor-intensive position because 1) two years of experience in the top spot is enough padding for my résumé, I think, and 2) there's at least one other person who would love the experience.

I also took two classes -- a fiction workshop, which was in my top 3 favorite classes taken in the program thus far (and in which I met some cool people) and an Electronic Publishing workshop which, despite my reluctance to take, I did learn a few things in (and broadened my thinking of how to use the web as a writer).

So, there you have it. Today's my last day of work (all jobs) until January and my classes ended two weeks ago, so I finally have some time for my own projects (like reading six more books before Dec. 31 to meet my Goodreads goal). And maybe some relaxation, if I can figure out how to not feel guilty about it. :P