4 Months Out, And My Journey Isn't Over...

My graduation was held on January 20th, 2012. Or rather, it was supposed to be. A few of the female graduates thought it would be funny to spray Silly String throughout the Humphrey Hall dorm. And that would have been fine, if it were just Silly String. But others came in, and got angry, and flipped beds. Still not too bad, but kinda ugly. And then other others came in, and got angry, and started spreading toothpaste and shaving cream. Got REALLY ugly. I was at the admin building at the time; my folks observed the goings-on while I finished up my papers. (Besides, yours truly is far too classy to participate in such a debacle.)

In any case, once it went that far, the campus staff got involved. It was so bad that the Center Director decided to cancel the graduation ceremony. As in, nobody walked, nobody took pictures, nobody got reception cake. And this is after having spent the entire day fitting for robes and rings, signing papers, watching anxiously for family to arrive, and in some cases, packing for the trip home. On top of this, at least two of the graduates (one was a close friend) had never walked in a graduation ceremony, ever, and some families had made a long trip for nothing, including mine. Everyone was upset and frustrated.

Ceremony aside, I am officially a Culinary Arts graduate of Pine Knot Job Corps. My certificates are safely tucked away with my resume, and a month after graduation, I landed a job working at Wal*Mart in Hamilton - I am now your friendly deli associate! Also, as a new graduate, I can have over a year of assistance from a Job Corps counselor, concerning just about any and every matter that young adults have to face when living on their own.

I also have to mention that I now have an entire network of friends from the Job Corps that I can ask for tips on where to find a job, and a handful of great references for my resume, which has been nicely beefed up thanks to my education and experience in and out of the kitchens on campus. The whole thing spans two pages now! Makes me feel like I've really done something... Oh wait. I guess I have :P

I'm going to assume this as my very last post for the Job Corps. My experience would not have been possible without the following people:

*My entrance sponsor, Tonya Collins - for putting up with all of the tricky faxes :P
*Andrew "Bo" Marnhout - best teacher ever!
*Kathy Hearn - she knows how to run a kitchen!
*"Jerry" - all around fun guy and staff sponsor for the PKJC Anime Club!
*Bruce Williams - never a dull day in the kitchens :)
*CPP 1/31 - I love you guys! Keep working hard!
*My Humphrey Hall sisters - even the ones who made a mess in the dorm :P Save the drama, ladies!
*All Culinary Arts students - we had some delicious times together <3
*All founding members of the Anime Club - I wish I could be there to see where it goes!
*And dozens of others I'm probably forgetting...

Thank you for making my Job Corps experience valuable and unforgettable. I will carry these lessons and friendships with me for the rest of my life. If you ever need me, you can hunt me down easily - my personal email will always be sailacruz@yahoo.com. Keep a lookout for my other blogs, and stay focused on your goals!

Lotsa Love Always,
@};~ Tia

Well, I safely have the holidays behind me. Even though I finished my TAR (!!!) before winter break, I had imagined it would be right back to the norm for me, with graduation on the 27th of January.

Oh how wrong I was!

I found out recently that my graduation is January 20th, 2012 - that's next Friday! Thank goodness I was able to alert my family to the change of date. This week, I'm attending my Career Transition Readiness classes. This is essentially a crash course/review of resumes, interviews, and how to hold the job once you get it. Ideally, I will graduate with a new job lined up, and I can start working right away!

Everyone on center is currently bummed out - the entire Job Corps program was audited, and the missing money is coming out of the students' paycheck, since we're the ones that benefit from it. As a result, some students will receive their entire paycheck, some will receive a partial, and some will receive nothing. We had an opportunity to check whether we were receiving money, but I skipped on it. I'm so close to graduating that the money doesn't matter so much.

Next week? I'm not sure what to expect. I know that I'll need to be fitted for my cap and gown, but I can't imagine what else I might be doing...

Countdown

I safely got through my 23rd birthday, no thanks to the zero tolerance policy towards alcohol on Pine Knot. I'm still working hard at McCreary County Health and Rehab for workbased learning, and I'm just about finished with my 5th week. I'll be finished with my workbased learning on the 18th of November, which will also be the day I take off on my Thanksgiving Leave. I'll get to see my Paul again!

Speaking of, I'm overjoyed to announce my engagement to Paul! We won't officially tie the knot for at least another two years - plenty of time for Paul to get through basic training and get through his nuclear schooling in Charleston, and for me to start building a nest egg once I graduate from the Job Corps program.

After Thanksgiving Leave, I'll have another two weeks to get some work done on my TAR. Christmas Break begins on December 16th and ends January 3rd. Graduation is projected for January 27th, so I should have time to finish my TAR and my CTR classes. I'll be using my breaks to jobhunt, too - wish me luck!

New Approach

My phone is STILL not working with my blog again. SO! I'm going to have a little fun with this blog and post fun quiz results from blogthings.com ! Yay!

But first, a small update. Still coasting through Job Corps, and I actually see a light at the end of the tunnel! In other words, I've turned in my graduation papers and I'm projected to walk in January of next year. I've also volunteered to do some work-based learning at a nearby nursing home, and I still have to do the paper work for that. Today was a bake sale for a family in need - I spent almost $7 on sweets and proceeded to make myself sick! But oh, what a way to go, hee hee!

Ok! Time for a quiz result!

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Intuition

You are multilayered and complex. No one can quite understand you. You are very inspired and driven to achieve your goals. Whether you know it or not, you are a visionary with a complete life plan. You are intuitive enough to understand difficult problems, ideas, and people.

What's Your Personality Cluster?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Ok, until I can re-attune my blog to my phone, there will be only wishlists. Current wishlist: pencils, multicolor gel pens, and stamps. I love you guys!

Ok, apparently my last handful of blogs never posted. But it seems to be working, so I'll just try to keep my blogs down to one text at a time, just as a test.

Testing my mobile blogging right meow. It seems posts haven't been getting through...