WEEK 22

So...I know I haven't written in almost a month. I'm sorry!

I didn't put this in my last post, but here are some updates on what's happened since August:

• I've been going to the chiropractor once a week to work on my lopsided back...hopefully I don't have a Quasimoto future. 

How I thought it would feel at the chiropractor, nice and awesome back session...

ya...it's definitely A LOT more painful than that.

• Nik has his 27th birthday (Ninja ceremony and all) and we also went up north to spend some time with his family for his grandpa's service. His family is AMAZING!
• Cami had her 25th birthday where we celebrated at the Magic Castle, which was pretty awesome!
• Ricky came to town for a little under a week which definitely put a huge smile on my face!
• My cousin Steven was in the hospital for having some bleeding in his brain, and he's now at home thank god. Hopefully he gets better soon. Please continue to send positive thoughts! Hopefully our positive thoughts and his change of lifestyle (which I hope that he's doing...!) will make things better.
• My cousin Mikey and his new wife Cat had their LA wedding, super nice to see my mom's side of the family!
• I have a mentor through Annenberg, her name is Dawn and she is the Communications Director at the Salvation Army which is so amazing. She's really incredible and I can tell will teach me a lot!
• Jasmine's dad opened Matthews Garden Cafe which is an AWESOME restaurant in the Palisades! So proud of her fam! 
• Celebrated my Uncle Jorge coming home from the hospital, always great to see my dad's side of the family!
• Nik and I celebrated our 1 year of knowing each other by going to the theater where we met and watching whichever play they had on that night...which fortunately for us was AMAZING...it was called Geeks vs. Zombies...no explanation for the awesomeness needed.
• I was asked to be the interim event coordinator for the office I work in...which has led me to...my new job YAY! Here's the story:  I always thought of applying for Jennie/Christine's job and figured I wouldn't ask if I got the Hawaii approval. But...the Hawaii proposal got shut down because it wasn't a personal enough request (fair). So, although that puts a damper on one of my dreams (for now), I decided to go with the opportunities that were put in front of me and apply for the job. I'm bummed that I won't be able to go to Hawaii for 3 months and just live by myself over there--something I was really looking forward to. But that's okay because I've been given such a great opportunity and I definitely took it!  I know my Hawaii chance will come someday. I even get to travel to Hawaii for this job in January so maybe I'll stay out there for a week or two longer...we'll see! It will be nice to save up more money this way which is definitely what I will be focusing on, among other things, when I'm done with my thesis.

How I felt inside when Alex told me Hawaii was a no go... 

...like I wanted to cry cause it was my dream but I felt guilty and like a 
little bratty princess who didn't get her wish to move to Hawaii, boo freakin hoo! 

One tiny part of me wanted to do this and just go: 

But the rest of me was saying "Stop being a bratty boob and realize that you have been given an amazing opportunity" and I'd be an idiot not to at least apply!

So I got over that feeling and now I'm super excited about my job!

So now...I am now the new Operations and Events Coordinator!!

 

But I was def afraid I wouldn't get the job. I was SUPER nervous before my interview and thought that they wouldn't give me the job because I didn't have a lot of budget experience and because sometimes that's stupidly/super unfairly how things go... but I'm glad they have offered me the position! 

Me the 5 minutes before my interview...

So I've pretty much been coordinating all the fall events for our office and am now looking into the other...DUTIES...of my new position like the budget (learning the new eMarket database we'll be using) and the office inventory and management part. I'm REALLY excited about my new position, it's definitely a different type of responsibility that I enjoy a lot more and I'm excited to learn more about the budget. Which I have to admit, is not my passion in life but I'm excited to get a lot more experience with it!

How I first felt about the budget: 

But I know after my training I'll be like this about the budget:

I'm just really grateful to have been given such an opportunity and I get to work with my awesome coworkers even longer!! HUGE plus! I love working at USC so I'm really glad that I get to continue there and grow professionally. There's also a plus that I'm already really familiar with how our office and school is run and that I have friends who were in the position prior to me to ask if I have any burning questions. 

We couldn't exactly express our excitement all together for certain reasons...but this is def how my good news was welcomed at the office! I just love my coworkers so much!

I also get an office! My first office!!! 

So what does this new position mean to my thesis? 

Well...October is already supposed to be one of my last hardest months. This is because I'm analyzing and writing about my data. Fortunately I'm on track with the suggested timeline for CMGT 597 so that makes me feel good!

In September I worked really hard to get all of my focus groups done and transcribed. I had 2 post-grad focus groups and 2 undergrad focus groups. It was actually really interesting and awesome to be a focus group moderator for my own study because I got to see what their actual opinions and thoughts are on my topic. I even had to learn the specific strategies when conducting a successful focus group so, not surprisingly, I read a whole book about focus groups...nerdy I know. And even better...my undergrad participants got extra credit so I didn't even have to try hard to get them to come!! 

It was kinda crazy to go and advertise my focus group to my adviser Daniela's Comm 300 class because I took that exact class in the same room when I was a junior. I even attended a focus group for extra credit just as those who participated in my study did. And I have to admit, I NEVER imagined that I would be that grad student making an announcement for a focus group in Comm 300 six years later! NEVER EVER! Kinda weird but kinda cool at the same time. 

Anyhoo, so now I'm analyzing my data to see how I should begin to write my analysis section of my thesis. And it's going to be kind of hard since my new position is starting right in the middle of recruiting season, which means I have a bunch of events to plan/attend. 

It's definitely going to be a struggle to balance my new position, the fall recruitment events, my thesis, sleep, working out and life. 

I think this will be my ultimate challenge...I know that in the end, I'll give it my best and I have to be okay with that. It's just a little overwhelming at times.

I mainly worry about not being around as much for my friends. I know they usually understand how busy I am with work and my thesis but I still can't help how guilty I feel all the time. It really drags me down and makes me feel more stressed that I can't be there all the times that I want to. 

Trust me, if I had it my way my life wouldn't be this consumed with sitting by myself at my computer day in and day out. 

But anyhoo, time to really get crackin on this thesis poop so I can keep my sanity! 

And I know it may not look like it to some people, but this is how I feel when I get stressed and fluctuate between stressed weight and normal weight (all girls understand what I'm talkin about):

Smiles for miles,
ME!