Working in 2-900

So, what I believe to be impossible and the rest of my friends believed to be inevitable has happened: I have accepted a job in the black hole commonly referred to as 2-900, Head Quarters for the U of A's Students' Union. My position? University Policy and Information Officer (UPIO), a glorified (or not so glorified...?) research monkey. Whoo Hoo! You know what the scariest thing is? I am really really really excited about it. There's nothing more appealing to me than the concept of getting paid to sit behind a computer and research, analyse and make recommendations of an Academic nature. I really am that much of a dork!

I guess the most exciting thing about it is the team that I'll be working with. 2-900 is full of tremendously bright and motivated minds this year. More so than I've seen in years past. The executive is of a top notch caliber- the perfect combination of motivation, energy and experience. Of course, it does help that I've known four out of five of them for years and consider them to be friends of mine. As for the fifth, it's probably better than we're not necessarily close friends: he's going to be my boss!

I'm really excited to be working in the Academic portfolio. It's kind of always been my area of interest and having sat on GFC, AAB and having held other positions such as Pi Beta Phi's version of Vice President Academic, I know that some of the skills and information I've gathered over the years will come in handy.

At the same time, in all honesty, it's just occured to me how much this is going to change my life. For years I have watched as staff and executives have sacrificed their social lives, sleep and academics for their jobs- and knowing me, I won't be that different. Well, it's unlikely that I'll sacrifice my academics. I like school too much. But aside from that, I'm going to turn into the inevitable slave of the SU that I've mocked others for becoming. Moreover, I'm moving in with a co-worker for the summer (BOOYAH AVPX) and know that my life is about to become far far more Hack Oriented than I had anticipated.

Plus, there's always the fear of failure- of letting those down who have put their trust in me. I know that I'll do my best- but let's be honest: I'm not convinced you can EVER please the student population. Thankfully, I'm probably the most invisible of the Executive Staff so that might help alleviate the tension on me.

Anyway, here's to a new office, a new job, a new vision and, let's face it, a comeback in the SU.

Officially out of retirement,
Zita