What do you do?

As I mentioned in my last blog, I usually work 8:30-5 Mon-Fri. But I also mentioned that would be changing. Our office is open seven days a week, from 7:30-5. However, for a trial period (all of March) we are changing our hours to see if it would be more beneficial for our participants. Our hours on Sat/Sun are now 7:30-4 (I think). And then on weekdays (which I am still working Mon-Fri) from 7am-7pm. So now, instead of working the same times each day, my schedule changes slightly from day to day. I still work 8 hours a day. But one day I may come in a little earlier, and another stay a little later. There are two days that I will be closing (by myself). And all the rest I work in the middle. In some weeks, I may have a day that I open, but that has not been scheduled yet.

My job is going well, although last week, I felt like I was stuck in a rut a little. I just wasn't feeling quite right. Not sure why though. But in general, everything is going swimmingly. Since I haven't really gone into much detail about what I do, I'll try to do that now. However, it's hard. I do a lot of little things so it's difficult to describe it briefly. Things I do in any given days are:

• Travel forms - when international students want to take a trip out of the country, our office provides them with travel forms to fill out. We tell them what they need to do to fill them out. Then when the depart for their trips, they have to bring the forms back to us along with their travel documentation. We have to check their passport/visas. I was confused at first by the many different visas and situation, but I'm getting a hang of it now and learning quite a bit. We check these forms to make sure their visas allow them to travel, then we sign the form and make a copy. When the participants return, we check their passports again to make sure their visas have been processed correctly and then sign their form again saying they are able to go back to work. 
• Residency Letters - many times, participants need proof that they are living in our complexes (usually so they can get a driver's license). We type up an official government document that has proof of their participation and residency. 
• Unexpected Departures - We take care of the initial paper work for people leaving the program early. Some of these are terminations from the company, some of them are voluntary based on family/personal needs. Terminations can come from the work location, or they can come from our department based on a housing code violation. We have to contact the work location to notify them of the participant leaving, and fill out/file paper work. Depending on the situation, we have to notify other departments or file additional paperwork.
• Discipline - My managers are the ones who deal the discipline. However, we type up written and verbal warning notifications. We also are asked from time to time to sit in on security meetings.
• Apartment Meetings - a couple times a week, participants come in having a conflict with their roommates. Our office offers conflict resolution assistance. We call everybody in for a meeting, we sit down and members from my team act as mediators.
• I personally enter Ticklers into our database. A tickler is what we call a security file that had no discipline or follow-up needed. In other words, they are mainly a complaint that had no substantial proof to investigate, or documentation of a medical emergency.

There are also a several other things I do. Answer phones, assist with walk-ins. Clean our popcorn machine. Open and close the office when applicable. Sign people up for events. But the above are the bulk of our work.

A general update...

Okay, so I definitely fail at this. I've had "update blog" on my list of things to do since about January 10th. It's now February, and I haven't posted since the end of November. And now I don't even know where to begin...

I know I want to talk about my new internship, but lets back track a little. My previous internship ended in the beginning of January. Parts of the job were starting to get old and repetitive. But looking back, I miss it. Mostly, I miss the wonderful people I worked with. While many of them are still there, the ones I was the closest to are now back home in different states. And I've never been good at keeping in contact with people if they aren't in physical proximity to me...

In December, the week of Christmas, I moved into my new apartment. It's a four-bedroom, two-bath. It's a nice little place and we have a great location both within the complex as well as in comparison to places/attractions around us. I get a long with most of my roommates. We won't get into that.

I've become an official adult. In the time since my last blog, I've started paying back loans, transferred my residency, changed my driver's license, car-title, and license plates (or tags as we call them here in FL), got new car insurance and bought renter's insurance. It's satisfying to start paying back my loans, but all my money is gone... haha. My next big step (other than getting a big-boy bed) is to get my own health insurance. But that won't happen for a while.

And now, onto my new job. I absolutely love it. I work in one of the college complexes. We help students with pretty much any question they have. We also serve as a central information hub for anybody and everybody dealing with the college program (including participants, parents, professors, managers, and other cast members). I have my own desk. I work 8:30-5 Mon-Fri (although that is going to change in March for a trial period, more on this later). My position is (apart from being a professional intern) coordinator. There are five office coordinators who are stationed in the office. Then there are three managers, and one area manager. I see all of these people pretty often. They are all different but we all compliment each others work styles. That's just the Programs Office. We are part of a bigger team that facilitates the programs. There is the Yield Team (dealing with numbers of beds open and occupied, along with some finances). There is the Events Team (they set up events, trips, and activities for the participants). And there is the Communication Team (does all sorts of communication for the participants including emails and signs). These are the people I see weekly. There is also the Area manager that manages all of these teams, and then his manager. I don't see these two as often, especially the latter. But everybody is so wonderful! And things are so laid back and such a different ball game than the teams in the parks and resorts. I absolutely love it. And I would love it more if I could stay. But... I can't stay unless one of these people leaves, so chances are, at least right now, I will be moving on to another team when June comes around.