Dear Diary,
One of the really helpful aspects of this Residency is the camaraderie of the previous and simultaneous other Residents. The former African-American female and my co-Resident and I went to lunch and it was truly empowering. It is comparable to a support group in that we have dealt with the same issues and concerns and we are able to truly understand this experience as others are not able to. I am grateful that I have them to keep me encouraged and to inspire me.
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I used some of the leadership skills I learned at the Purdue Workshops to solve a problem. Basically, I ABSOLUTELY love my job....utterly disliked my cubicle. But I vowed to not complain about anything, and to only focus on the positive. I am truly blessed to be working at Notre Dame and so everything else must be put in perspective. Well one of my co-workers came to install my new email and asked about the scotch tape covering my keyboard tray. I explained that the wood is ragged and I literally bleed every time I put my hands on the tray to type. I put a scarf over the tray, problem solved.
She asked about the collage of brightly colored papers and Arizona Iced Tea bottles strewn about my cube. I explained that I suffer from S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) *SAD is a mood disorder associated with depression episodes and related to seasonal variations of light. So being confined to the grey cubicle is quite depressing and counter productive to creative process and efficiency.
She asked how long my light was out above my desk, "Who knows?" She asked about a few other shall we say ergonomically-incorrect features of my cube and strongly encouraged me to ask those things be changed.
I decided why stop there. I am not necessarily greedy but I try to think big. So I thought about one role-playing exercise we did at the workshop and decided to apply those tools to requesting an office on the other side of the hall with a Window! I would not have ordinarily had the courage to make such a request. But after framing my request using the guidelines I learned at the workshop, I felt confident in the logic and the requisite power strategy. Yippee!
I am proud to annouce that our Director agreed to my request.
I now have a seemingly bigger office (technically not) and a window with a view but not just any view....but a view of the GOLDEN DOME!!!
Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY JOB??
