Diving In Head First

Currently I am sitting in the library working on what is currently 67 pages of my data analysis portfolio. In need of a study break, I thought blogging could be a good way to get away from numbers and back to words. I never really thought of myself as much of a writer, but I feel as though this portfolio has been a great outlet for me the past semester. In both Management II and Research I, I will have tangible, concrete pieces of my own work to show to the world. I am not sure if this is why Professor Bonica gave us SHOW YOUR WORK! by Austin Kleon but if its not it is quite the coincidence. I started reading the first few pages during another study break earlier today (ok yes I take a lot of study breaks) and Kleon opens by discussing how getting your work out there for others to see is effective than networking. I find this to be great timing as we have discussed how we now can show potential employers a blog (portfolio) and a primer (and a data analysis portfolio for those of us in the HMP major). This is the first semester I have ever had tangible products like these and its great to come out with not just one but three great pieces of work. Kleon made a funny point when he mentioned how cool it would be if the person who was interviewing you already followed your blog. I certainly don't expect this to happen to me any time soon but it certainly got me thinking about what I am putting out into the world.
Yesterday I had a really profound day. Yesterday was our last day of class and my end of the year performance review with my boss. I had a self review that I had to prepare before I got to the meeting. The categories are customer service, job knowledge, professionalism, communication/interpersonal skills, and risk management. The rankings are either does not meet expectations, meets expectations, or exceeds expectations. I got into my meeting and my boss asked me to tell him what I thought of the year and what I gave myself on my self assessment. He then started to tell me what he thought. The funny thing was I was actually harder on myself than he was. He gave me exceeds expectations for 4/5 categories and meets expectations for one. He explained I likely would have gone 5/5 had I not made a pretty key mistake a week before (which is absolutely fair). He went on to tell me how impressed he was with how quickly I emerged as a leader. He said that people often take time to adjust to being in our leadership position but that I jumped right in. Because of this, he knew he described me as his go-to employee for any shift. This got me thinking about Management II. I feel like this is exactly how I approached the class. Not in a formal leadership position, but by immediately diving into what we were trying to accomplish. With everything that I do, I try to put all of my energy into it. After an extremely reassuring performance review and a formal adjourning of our class, I felt both energized and at peace at the same time. I have never felt more purpose in my life. I feel both reassured in my ability to succeed in this career and extensive pride in what we have accomplished in Management II. I really am extremely passionate about everything we do in HMP and am ready to jump head first into being an administrative intern. While I do not fully believe in the idea of fate, I know right now I am exactly where I am supposed to be.