A Mother of a Night
Today I was a lot better than Monday. Whew!
I was going to bail on the HR professional organization schmooze-fest but $20 was on the line and it was a learning/networking opportunity and dinner. Go Pork Loin! I kept my spirits high and made sure to look people in the eye and remember why I was there. Dinner, learning and schmoozing. And I can proudly say that I ate small portions, all of my salad and passed on the roll AND cheesecake with pound cake crust(I guess it was cheesecake pie). Anyway, I controlled my eating. Go control!
I learned a lot about Union Awareness and the most recent actions of the NRLB. I also had a nice PHR pop quiz to remind me that I need to register again for that behemoth of an exam, enroll in a study class at the local technical college around the corner from work, and kick that exams' butt.
Some background: I didn't pass the exam last year. I think I failed shy of 20 points...which is so sad. I self studied for 2 1/2 months while traveling the country, leading the leadership training free world- OK...well at least on the Northeast coast. I made flash cards. I paid $250 for some bootleg study aid that was just a guy reading power point slides poorly and in a monotone voice. Who wants to study with that?!
I met the professor of the tech school PHR course, got her card and then met a mother of a Joyel. Yes...there is another mother of a Joyel out there...in fact there are a lot of Joyels out there according to this mom. She asked me my story of how I got my name and I gave her the Reader's Digest version: I was born 3 months early at 2lbs 10 oz and because I pulled through I brought so much joy and love to the family that my name is Joyel. Many years later, my mom told me that I was named after some love child in a TV movie of the week. "Love Baby" somehow equaled Joyel in my mom's mind. I like the first story- of course.
This Joyel's mom shared that she and her husband were stationed in Thailand and they were just married. Their house keeper had a daughter who came to visit while the lady worked. The daughter was mixed race (Thai and Black). The girl's mom explained that mixed race children would be challenged with a tough life and asked the newlyweds to take her to America to raise her. The newlyweds politely declined. They just got married and weren't ready to raise a child at that time. But they promised that they would name their daughter after hers in honor of her story...and her name...was Joyel. Wow! Now that's a story!
How random is that? Wanna hear some more? Of course you want more random...the dude sitting next to me used to work and live 10 minutes away from my hometown in Plainfield. There was a woman there who is an EAP counselor...a profession that I've been rattling around and wondering if I should pursue. So I walk up to this lady and introduce myself and she mentions that she interviewed at my company (in my mind, I realized that she interviewed for the position that I now hold- AWKWARD!). She shared that she was grateful that she didn't get selected at my company because the EAP company that she's always wanted to work for offered her a job around the same time we turned her down. What are the chances of asking someone some career advice and finding out that you hold the job they wanted months ago? On the EAP Counselor inside tip...it would take me approximately 10-15 years to become one and I would make a smaller amount of money. I need to get a Masters in Counseling and be licenced which apparently is very expensive but HR does play a big part in being an EAP Counselor. She was very supportive but I shudder at the thought of having to obtain another Master's degree AND maybe be able to get a gig at an EAP provider. The thought of starting a new career where it would take about 10 years freaks me out and then it exhausts me. Do I have the passion to pursue that? If I have to ask myself, I don't think that I do.
I feel like there's something inside of me that's not quite settled professionally. It's aching to bust out...but I can't put my finger on it. A 10-15 year commitment where I'd be less financially comfortable-What?! Call me a slacker, comfortable settler...I don't have that much fire in the belly for that path. The search continues.
I was going to bail on the HR professional organization schmooze-fest but $20 was on the line and it was a learning/networking opportunity and dinner. Go Pork Loin! I kept my spirits high and made sure to look people in the eye and remember why I was there. Dinner, learning and schmoozing. And I can proudly say that I ate small portions, all of my salad and passed on the roll AND cheesecake with pound cake crust(I guess it was cheesecake pie). Anyway, I controlled my eating. Go control!
I learned a lot about Union Awareness and the most recent actions of the NRLB. I also had a nice PHR pop quiz to remind me that I need to register again for that behemoth of an exam, enroll in a study class at the local technical college around the corner from work, and kick that exams' butt.
Some background: I didn't pass the exam last year. I think I failed shy of 20 points...which is so sad. I self studied for 2 1/2 months while traveling the country, leading the leadership training free world- OK...well at least on the Northeast coast. I made flash cards. I paid $250 for some bootleg study aid that was just a guy reading power point slides poorly and in a monotone voice. Who wants to study with that?!
I met the professor of the tech school PHR course, got her card and then met a mother of a Joyel. Yes...there is another mother of a Joyel out there...in fact there are a lot of Joyels out there according to this mom. She asked me my story of how I got my name and I gave her the Reader's Digest version: I was born 3 months early at 2lbs 10 oz and because I pulled through I brought so much joy and love to the family that my name is Joyel. Many years later, my mom told me that I was named after some love child in a TV movie of the week. "Love Baby" somehow equaled Joyel in my mom's mind. I like the first story- of course.
This Joyel's mom shared that she and her husband were stationed in Thailand and they were just married. Their house keeper had a daughter who came to visit while the lady worked. The daughter was mixed race (Thai and Black). The girl's mom explained that mixed race children would be challenged with a tough life and asked the newlyweds to take her to America to raise her. The newlyweds politely declined. They just got married and weren't ready to raise a child at that time. But they promised that they would name their daughter after hers in honor of her story...and her name...was Joyel. Wow! Now that's a story!
How random is that? Wanna hear some more? Of course you want more random...the dude sitting next to me used to work and live 10 minutes away from my hometown in Plainfield. There was a woman there who is an EAP counselor...a profession that I've been rattling around and wondering if I should pursue. So I walk up to this lady and introduce myself and she mentions that she interviewed at my company (in my mind, I realized that she interviewed for the position that I now hold- AWKWARD!). She shared that she was grateful that she didn't get selected at my company because the EAP company that she's always wanted to work for offered her a job around the same time we turned her down. What are the chances of asking someone some career advice and finding out that you hold the job they wanted months ago? On the EAP Counselor inside tip...it would take me approximately 10-15 years to become one and I would make a smaller amount of money. I need to get a Masters in Counseling and be licenced which apparently is very expensive but HR does play a big part in being an EAP Counselor. She was very supportive but I shudder at the thought of having to obtain another Master's degree AND maybe be able to get a gig at an EAP provider. The thought of starting a new career where it would take about 10 years freaks me out and then it exhausts me. Do I have the passion to pursue that? If I have to ask myself, I don't think that I do.
I feel like there's something inside of me that's not quite settled professionally. It's aching to bust out...but I can't put my finger on it. A 10-15 year commitment where I'd be less financially comfortable-What?! Call me a slacker, comfortable settler...I don't have that much fire in the belly for that path. The search continues.
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