My Job is Cooler Than Yours

Remember when I was worried and terrified about graduation? Yeah, that was silly of me. Don't get me wrong, I miss Purdue and living in Lafayette (football season cannot come fast enough), but this whole graduation and having a big kid job is pretty cool.

I have been a college graduate for nearly two weeks! It's still weird to think about and it hasn't totally sunk in yet that I really have graduated and I'm not resuming classes in the fall. Although I did walk under the Bell Tower after graduation, so that kind of makes it more real.

I graduated with two majors and a minor in 4 years. Take that, Bell Tower!

Purdue legend says that if you walk under the Bell Tower before commencement, you won't graduate in four years. So, for the first time since starting at Purdue back in August of 2009, I walked under the Bell Tower after commencement. It was exciting  and fun and made it just a little more real. But, let's face it, it probably won't feel totally real until I'm not on campus in the fall, I'm not buying overpriced books I probably won't be able to sell back, I'm not spending more time trying to catch the Ross-Ade bus than actually riding it, and I won't have a class Heavilon 227, the wonky-smelling computer lab where nearly all the Professional Writing classes meet.

So, in these two weeks since graduation, Mitchell and I have moved to our fancy big kid apartment in Noblesville (we have hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, and a wine fridge. It's awesome) and I officially started working at LHP Telematics as their first technical writer! And like the title of this post says, my job is cooler than yours. 

It's pretty awesome in and of itself that I am making a living doing what I love to do. I have always wanted to be a writer, and now that's really what I'm doing. It's great to finally say that I love my job (and after working retail since junior year of high school, it's been a long time coming too). I spent this week writing a user guide for the Original Equipment Manufacturers who use the LHP web application to manage their fleets. It ended up being 98 pages today, with the help of screenshots. I've never written anything with that many pages. I also got details on the huge project we're doing with John Deere, and I might end up going on my first business trip in the next couple of weeks to the exotic Des Moines, Iowa, to meet with the John Deere representatives to learn how I need to write and format the documentation I'm going to be writing. 

But besides the fact that I'm finally getting to do what I love, the company I work for is pretty cool, too. There aren't very many of us working there (if I remember right, there's 9 full-time employees and 4 interns), so even though we have a lot to do, it's been easy to get to know everyone. The office is laid back and casual, for instance, I get to wear jeans to work. Today was Free Lunch and Board Games Friday, where the company buys lunch for everyone and we get to spend an hour or so playing board games with each other. It was great fun, even if I was the second to die in King of Tokyo (but at least I didn't go out as quickly as the intern did). There is also always the chance that a Nerf gun fight will break out. Today, as my cubicle got bombarded for the first time, I surprised my coworkers and fired back. And it was awesome. Although, I think I need a bigger Nerf gun. 

So there you have it. My job, and my company, is officially cooler than yours. And I know you're jealous!

The Comfort Zone

While watching The Big Bang Theory yesterday (which if you don't watch, you definitely should because it's hilarious and nerdy and fantastic), I realized I definitely relate to Sheldon (in more ways than this, but we won't go into that) on his feelings on his comfort zone:

Penny: "Okay, that's fine, but let's try and get you out of your comfort zone."
Sheldon: "Why would we want to do that? It's called the comfort zone for a reason."

I totally understand that feeling. Graduating college is forcing me out of the comfort zone I've had for years and years and years. I can't remember a time when I wasn't a full-time student. I've never had a job that doesn't involve a time clock and a cash register. While I'm very excited to graduate and be a writer for a living, I'm also pretty terrified.

A couple friends and I were talking about graduation and going into the adult world. They say you're an adult when you graduate high school and go to college, but let's be real here, you're really not. Most people live in the dorms for at least the first year, and you still don't really have a "real" job. You still have that protective barrier of "student." Boss wants you to work more than 25 hours? Nope, can't, because you're a student and you have homework and exams and projects. You might have an apartment and have rent and bills to pay, but it's still not the "adult world." You don't really become an "adult" until you finish your undergrad and graduate. Anyway, my friends and I decided that graduation and entering that adult world was like walking up to the edge of a cliff, looking over the edge to see how high up you are, and then jumping right off. I've been told by graduates from last year (and the year before that, and my parents) that the jump is scary, but once you jump it's perfectly fine and actually pretty fun. But I still have to leave my comfort zone to enjoy it.

Purdue has been a pretty great comfort zone. I've had an amazing time, had great experiences, and wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. I kinda feel like I have no idea what I'm doing (and that I should know what I'm doing), and while I'm terrified to leave my West Lafayette comfort zone, I'm also pretty excited to find my new one.

I take that big leap off the cliff in six days. And (I think) I'm ready. Now or never, right?