Life After Mason

1 year ago..

shortblondealumni — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:39:29 +0000

One year ago today, I signed with my current employer. Oh how time flies! I now have the fear that I will wake up one day and be 30 and not know where all the time went!! I do have to say, that I am still on track with my education plans. I have been in the work force for a year, and I am already back in school.

One piece of advice I can give you all is, find someone else to fund your education (not your parents!) It’s great to have a company pay for you to go to school. I am currently in a certification program…at Mason of course! However, I am at the Prince William campus for my classes. I do have to say, for someone who never had a reason to go to the PW campus, it’s pretty nice.

I am getting into the routine of paying my bills, and seeing how much money gets taken out of my paycheck for taxes..wait, I still haven’t gotten used to that. Either way, life is good. I have learned more than I ever thought I could outside of school.

But, I do enjoy being in school, and I love being back in the classroom. No matter what campus I’m at, Mason will always be home for me, and for those of you who know me, you know that is a true statement!

Lesson Learned

shortblondealumni — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:15:03 +0000

It’s amazing everything a person can learn in a year. In this post I want to share what people don’t tell you happens after graduation..

• Getting up before the sun never gets easier
• You are constantly updating and reformatting your resume
• Your social life takes a plunge, since you now get up at 5am, it’s harder to stay up late to go out..unless you take a nap
• You’re not out of school that long before you realize that it’s not really over, and you make plans to go back ASAP

However, there are good lessons learned too, don’t think I am just some bitter person working in Corporate America.

• Once you are set up in your job, it’s a great feeling to be able to help your friends get interviews
• Putting yourself out there, can indeed get you ahead
• Having complete independence from your parents is a great feeling

Learning never stops, but how you look at the world changes. When you’re in school everyone tells you that you have the world at your fingertips. Even though that is true, when you start working, your world can shrink to whatever company you may be working for..but try not to let that happen, no one likes a person that gets absorbed completely by work.

Having friends that are still in school can be hard at first, to see everyone else still partying and not having a worry in the world besides finals. It does get better, it gets better when your friends realize that you are no longer up until 3am and they now stop texting you around midnight.

When you look back, you realize how fast time goes. This time last year I was unemployed and hanging out at the pool waiting for someone to call me for an interview. It’s nice to have a job that I like..but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss waking up at noon and winter break..spring break..summer break..

Graduation

shortblondealumni — Sun, 16 May 2010 21:00:32 +0000

I attended the School of Management graduation at the Patriot Center on Friday. Sitting in the Patriot Center, watching my friends walk across the stage, reminded me of this time last year. I remember the feeling of walking across stage and hearing your name called. The feeling of spending 4 years at Mason and now it’s all over, and looking back on everything you accomplished.

When I walked across the stage last year, I didn’t have my final grades, I had just moved into my first apartment the night before, and I didn’t have a job. But that didn’t stop me from living in the moment. That’s what I saw on Friday, the graduates were all living in the moment, some were taking in word for word of all the speeches, and others were tossing around a beach ball..and yet I expected it all.

While I was looking out into the sea of green gowns trying to pick out my friends, I thought back on all the late nights of studying, the late nights at Ike’s when we were supposed to be studying and the never ending nights at Broadside. At the time some of it seemed awful, depending on what you got at Ike’s. I often look back and remember the good and not so great times at Mason. One of my last memories was studying 15 hours straight for my last exam..I will never forgive Econ 101 for stressing me out!

And now as I look back at the transition I made over the past year. Waking up at 5am, instead of noon..having to get dressed up to go to work, instead of just wearing my Ambassador polo and khaki’s.

I have learned that coffee is still my best friend, and not everyone (hardly anyone) drinks red bull in the work world. I found out that classes never stop, there will always be more. And I have learned that no matter what you do, keep in touch with your friends, because you’ll need them more once you leave Mason.

The last thing I have learned, is that I am not ready to leave Mason forever..In July I will be starting my Professional Certificate in Geographic Information Sciences held at the Prince William campus. I guess what I learned was, you couldn’t keep me away for long!

Almost a Year Since Graduation

shortblondealumni — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:53:51 +0000

I had a realization the other day. This is the first time in 4 years I have not had to move at the end of the year. Even my Junior year at Mason living in Potomac I had to move from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor before my Senior year. To be honest the end of the year really snuck up on me. I have been so busy with work, and yes I know that sounds cliche, but it’s totally true.

There have been a lot of changes going on at work, and I have turned in my forms to go back to school. So, I am just waiting to see what happens with everything. Hopefully, I will be returning to Mason in July for a certificate program, and then when that’s done I want to return to Mason for my Masters. However, one thing at a time.

Either way, it has been almost a year since graduation, and time flew by. Time really does fly by when you’re busy, but this year has been a good type of busy. Breaking into the real world and work world, I can honestly say that I have learned a lot.

I have not forgotten the quote that was said at graduation (maybe because it was from one of my favorite movies) but, even though this year has flown by, I have not forgotten that, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller

Wedding, Blizzard, and Homecoming

shortblondealumni — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:55:15 +0000

So, since my last post a lot has happened. My best friend got married. Thankfully everything went pretty smooth. I for one am happy it’s all over..planning 2 parties for her was enough for me. The worst part was writing out the invites to everyone. For my wedding, I will make everyone get a facebook account so I can just make it an event. lol

Homecoming at Mason as come and gone, and I attended a bunch of events. I went to the Alumni Student Leader Reception, The Mason Squires event, and of course the Homecoming basketball game. It was so good to see everyone again, I had a lot to catch up on with all of my friends. It was also good to see my friends that are still at Mason, and the tailgate was the place to do that. Speaking of the tailgate, the best place to be was in the Alumni tent, because it had the best food AND it was heated. I know I paid all the money to go to Mason, so that when I was an alumn I would be able to have a heated tent!

Lastly, this blizzard was crazy! Or, should I say these 2 blizzards? The federal government was closed for just about a week, which meant I didn’t have to go to work. That was good, because after I graduated I was afraid I wouldn’t get a winter break again. The only thing that was bad about the blizzard (besides being snowed in) was that it was really hard to go back to work. I had gotten used to staying up late and getting up whenever, so when I had to get up at 5am to go to work, needless to say it was painful.

But, it seems like the snow is almost gone, which is nice. I am ready for spring time to come and some warmer weather!

New Beginnings

shortblondealumni — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:07:26 +0000

I just threw a bachelorette party for my best friend. She is getting married this Saturday, and I can’t believe it! Without giving away the details of the party, I’ll just say this..I took the party to Medieval Times to drink and be merry!

In other news, I have agreed to do something I never did at Mason..I have agreed to write an article in my companys newsletter.. GASP! I know..me write?!? Who knew!

Lastly but not least..

Conan VS Jay Leno..As you all know, to say I am a fan of Conan is an understatement. In short, I will support Conan in whatever he decides..as long as he stays on tv!

Snow!

shortblondealumni — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:05:05 +0000

While Fairfax is under a blizzard warning, I thought I would look back to see where I was this time last year.

For starters, being stressed out with finals was an under statement. There’s that extra pressure as a senior, knowing that you really don’t have the time to take the class again. But, I also had a great distraction..I was getting ready to study abroad in Switzerland. Although, today reminds me a lot of Switzerland since there is snow everywhere! But besides that..I had no idea what I was going to be doing after school..but I didn’t really care, I more excited about going abroad. What I did care about was passing all of my finals. That is not to say that I was in danger of not passing my classes, but there is that added pressure that as a senior, you really don’t have the chance to re-take any classes. Needless to say that I passed all of my classes, but still had no idea for what I was going to do after graduation.

Fast forward a year, and how things have changed! I now get up at 4:45 during the week to get to work, that is very different from getting up for my 1:30 classes my last semester.

Something very different from last year is that for the first time, I feel like I can buy my family nice Christmas presents. I am no longer on the college student budget. And even though I am not rolling in money, I have enough that I was able to donate bags of toys and food to people in need this year and buy nice things for my family.

A lot can change in a year, from school to the real world..it’s not quite the college life, but it isn’t bad either!

Loving the Holidays

shortblondealumni — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:20:21 +0000

Last week my company hosted an “Employee Appreciation Dinner” at Bobby Vans in DC (which is an amazing steak house). How cool is that? My company bought everyone dinner, and there was an open bar. That’s not all, but we all got presents too! This year my company gave everyone Bose headphones. Headphones ?? I know that’s what you’re thinking, but these are top of the line headphones and I love them.

This past Saturday was the annual Holiday Party. It was held at the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. What can I say about that? More amazing food, another open bar, and we had the entire place to ourselves! I brought my roommate (my friend who I met at Freshman Orientation). We had a lot of fun, and even ran into other Mason Alums!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and has a great rest of the holiday season!

Free Stuff After Mason??

shortblondealumni — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:19:29 +0000

This past week has been full of training at work, and yes..even computer problems. So don’t think that once you leave Mason you won’t encounter computer problems where ever you work.

On the bright side, it’s almost Thanksgiving, which means..a day off But, I will have to say I didn’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to get a great meal. My company held its annual employee appreciation dinner at Bobby Vans in DC on Thursday. And if that wasn’t enough to have an amazing meal..and even an open bar. But the desserts were great, and we all got presents! Can’t go wrong with that. But the real thing I am excited for is our company Holiday Party at the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. It’s the one event my co-workers say that I must go to. It’s nice to still get free stuff after college.

A Sad Day

shortblondealumni — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:41:02 +0000

The other day I found out that one of my fellow Mason Alumni had passed away. Brian Picone, who was 22, was a great person. I had a dance class with him and I got to work with him while I would put in Pride activities into Broadside. I had the honor of putting his first drag experience at the Mason Drag Show on the front page of Broadside. I will always remember when he saw the paper and ran into the office so excited. I think that issue was gone in about 24 hours, one of our fastest issues that hit the stand that year. This is an unfortunate event, but those who knew Brian will always remember his energy and big heart for everyone.

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