Reflections on Starting Graduate School

So, I find myself back in school after more than 25 years in the adult world of jobs, parenting, and being an ordinary citizen.  It is both exhilarating and exhausting.  We had an intense first weekend with over 31 hours classroom time in 3 days; someone likened it to drinking from a fire hose!  At times I wondered, ‘what was I thinking?’ and at other times I thought, ‘I can do this.’

Now that I have done some writing and lots of reading, I feel a bit more prepared … I think that this is a goal that I can accomplish.  Go Cohort 41 – our goal is 2014!  Don’t lose sight of the end result – new skills that will be valuable in whatever nonprofit we serve.  I am not so intimidated as I was just a few weeks ago.

One phenomenon that I found frustrating, until I had an “aha” moment, was the tendency of the profs to go from the general to the specific – sometimes over a period of days.  I would hear the big picture and think, ‘that’s great, but I need to know x …’  Once I saw the pattern, I was able to relax a bit and trust that all my questions would eventually get answered.

My last job was so not boring

Here’s a partial list of some of my adventures while working at Adventures In Missions:

  • Edit books
  • Buy $22,000 worth of plane tickets in one morning [a group of 50 people going to 2 continents]
  • compare phone plans for 2 users who average 4-5000 minutes per month
  • interview potential staff and potential mission candidates
  • buy cameras – ranging from point and shoot, to flip video, to $20,000 HD movie camera
  • price equipment like green screens
  • talk to wives of country music sensations and NFL players about missions
  • prepare initial disaster response plans for Haiti [esp mail campaign and publicity]
  • build websites
  • write procedure manuals
  • teaching and training
  • reconcile Am Ex expenses in the thousands and tens of thousands for boss
  • Skype with people all over the globe
  • manage budgets
  • solve travel issues at 2 am via phone for teams in Thailand
  • study traffic on the web for boss stuck in Atlanta trying not to miss a flight
  • host board meetings
  • travel to Tijuana, Matamoros, Lima, Los Angeles, Colorado Springs, and Kensington [Philly]
  • develop infrastructure for 11 month worldwide mission trip
  • design annual report
  • host missionaries
  • plan direct mail campaign that raised tens of thousands
  • review/organize photos and videos for use in documents, calendars, reports, websites, books, blogs
  • manage calendar for executive director
  • order countless books on Amazon
  • manage 100+ emails per day
  • personal travel agent for Exec Director traveling worldwide
  • read books on fundraising and marketing

This is just a partial list to give you a sense of what a great job it was
Six years of exhilarating variety!

The canvas in the sky is ever changing

An interesting architectural feature.  This is in a medical building, if I remember correctly [or was it a museum] … anyway, I loved being inside, but being able to look up and be connected to the outdoors.  It provided a sense of connectedness even though I was sheltered from the elements.

I always love to watch the sky, to see the ever changing cloud patterns.

The Concept of Failing Forward

I subscribe to a newsletter from a company called Behance that is geared toward the creative artistic type.   A quote from a recent article by John Caddell caught my eye, “A mistake is a collision between your perception and reality. As such, it’s a terribly valuable asset.”  What we percieve as failure is often the catalyst to move us into new territory.  If something doesn’t work out, you are forced to consider other ideas, to come at something from a new angle.  


It is really kind of funny that I enjoy reading the articles in Behance since it is really geared for people who are completely different from me in personality.



The website tagline for Behance is “We empower creative professionals to make ideas happen.”  I first stumbled upon them through the program called Action Method Online.  While it is geared to the right brain type who is not as organized, the concepts can help those of us who are more left brained to stay on top of the multiple projects, whether personal or work related, that clutter our minds and lists.  The software has a free version, that I have used in my job to collaborate and manage projects.  I also love their “Action Notebook” – high quality and nicely laid out for keeping track of projects and notes.  

Pain

who knew pain could be so draining?  it’s seriously exhausting.  I hurt my back this week and it has been excruciating.  It takes all my energy and focus … trying to hold still when i find a position that is not uncomfortable (notice i did not say comfortable).  I cannot concentrate, cannot move, cannot rest.  It’s hard to focus on anything – the sermon on Sunday, the task I need to do at work, what items I should be accomplishing on my “to-do” list.

I don’t even know how this happened.  But it has given me a new perspective and a new empathy.  And I have realized again how often I fail to be thankful.  I take life and health for granted.  So I am asking God to continue to open my mind to things that He would teach me.