Momma said there'd be days like this

Today was just one of "those" days.  It started when I stepped out of my car this morning and realized I was wearing black shoes with my navy pants.  My first thought was to turn around and drive home but I had a pretty busy day on campus and starting a 1/2 late didn't seem like the best idea.  I confessed my fashion faux pas to my Facebook friends who began chiming in that it really was not that big of a deal and I quickly went about my day.  Thanks, friends!

Fast forward to my afternoon, about 15 minutes before I'm scheduled to do a workshop on Interviewing skills to our students in an Internship Prep class.  I hear what sounds like a pretty pushy individual insisting on seeing the "Career Services Person."  Oh great, that's me.  I invite this individual into my office and explain that if she is interested we can schedule an appointment to go over whatever it is her needs are.  The rest of the conversation goes something like this:

Her: So what is it exactly that you do here?

Me: I explain to her the variety of services that we offer, that we can assist with developing her cover letter, resume, interviewing skills, job search strategies, job vacancies, networking with other alumni and area employers, etc.

Her: Do you do placement?

Confession Time - College career professionals hate the word placement, we are not about placing graduates in jobs but rather teaching students the skills that they need to do a successful job search.

Me: No we do not do placement, career centers don't do placement, we teach you the skills you need to do a successful job search.

Her: Well I can find all that out on the Internet, so what does the college need you for?

Wow. THANKS for THAT!     I guess the only comfort I can take from our little exchange is that she graduated several years ago and is still looking for a job.  I guess you can't learn it all on the internet.  Yet at the same time I'm pretty sure I could help this individual, but because I am not willing to do the work for her I will probably never see her again.

2013 My one word - Gratitude

I love that on January 1st we are bombarded with ideas to make our lives better for the new year. You know things like eat better, work out more, watch less television, spend less, save more.  The problem with resolutions is that after a few weeks we forget about them and just go on living our lives the way we have prior to the calendar flipping to January 1. 

This year however instead of making a resolution I am committing to focusing on one word throughout the entire year.  The idea comes from the book My One Word: Change your life with just one word.  My friend Kathy introduced me to this book and this idea a couple of years ago and while I've certainly thought about the idea I had never committed to a word, until now.  So for 2013 I have committed to thinking about the word Gratitude and what that means for my life.

I certainly have plenty to be grateful for and look forward to seeing how focusing on the idea of gratitude will change the way I look at things. Once I chose my word I wasn't at all surprised that my devotional reading from the day included the following.  "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, His love endures forever."