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...

Four posts in a week; that's a record!

But I thought since I've been here for a full 4 months, I should update with a rundown of the average monthly schedule. So, here goes!

On the first Monday of each month, we have an awards assembly. Certificates for students who have raised their scores in classes, for students of the month, and for dorm of the month are awarded. Every Monday is a weekly assembly, discussing the week's weather, campus plans and events, etc.

Every Wednesday is Teams. This is when ESPs are done, in addition to other announcements. Also on Wed is trip sign-ups in the rec center... Which sucks because I have my SST group then, and by the time we get done, the line is impossibly long! Blech!

Every two weeks we get a new CPP group, and every second Tues we get paid. These weeks alternate, so CPPs come in on dry weeks.

Finally, every last Friday of the month is a graduation ceremony. The graduates are given a bunch of goodies and declared graduates of the Job Corps program.

I think that's it. Oh, by the way, my harddrive is no longer broken. I fixed it with another good solid thwack! Ha!

Gah!! As if I didn't have enought to save up for!! After taking such good care of it, my 500GB hard drive is rendered dead because of a single drop to the floor!! All of my music and movies and games... GONE!! ... Well not really, if I take them to a computer store and have them take the data from the internals... All the same though, all of my data is now inaccessible...

... Now that I have that out of my system for now, there's good news. My first itinerary for the trip home has come in; I'll be back before dinnertime on the 30th, barring any act of God. Yay summer break!!

A Good Day

Three wonderful things happened today.

First... I worked with Leah on 2nd shift. It was her first ever shift, and it was just the two of us, so I worked extra hard. It felt SO good!!

Second... The results of the ServSafe certification test came in. Bo (my instructor) didn't give me my exact score, but he did tell me that I passed! I am now officially ServSafe certified!

Third... Today was the monthly Awards ceremony. I was awarded Best Dressed in the Humphrey Hall dorm for the month of May! And, as a bonus, Humphrey Hall also won Dorm of the Month, adding a keen $300 to our dorm funds!

Needless to say, a very nice day. The only thing that could make it better is if it weren't Humphrey Hall's gym night... My feet are killing me from shift!!

I finally got a textbook to study with this past week. Slowly I'm working to finish the assigned chapters; I have a feeling the metric system is going to kill me though, since I've never really used it.

Yesterday, my dormstaff instated me as a new dorm leader. I was completely caught off guard, I've never led anything so I'm super nervous. That's not to mention the girls who were actively seeking the position. So now I feel like I have a target attached to me. Anyway, I've been moved from Room 8 in the back A-side bay to Room 2 in the front A-side bay; since Angela is leaving for advanced in a week, I'll be taking her place. Some of the other girls say I've got the toughest room with Tori and Chantèa, but Angela says I've got good roomies.

After June 5th, all leaves and weekend passes are cut off, in anticipation of Summer Break, which begins on the 30th. The moment I have my confirmation and itinerary, I'll let you know, Mom and Dad. I'm looking forward to visiting at home!

2nd shift was rough Wednesday. I was unusually clumsy; I burned myself three or four times and cut myself once. But Brian was there to help me out. We'll sign up for a trip to the movies on Friday, and he's promised to show me archery on Saturday. Maybe we'll squeeze in some tennis too.

The concert was pretty awesome, but I'm still regretting wearing those cute heels on stage! My feet have yet to stop aching. I didn't get a lot of sleep between friends, family, and band work, but Scarlett and Newton had fun, so it was worth it. It felt so strange to be so close to Jasper and yet so far, though. I want to go back so badly - it's definitely been my favorite place to live so far. ( Key West and Virginia following close behind it. )

A big thank you to Mom for the box of treats she left with me. I shared a portion with a bunch of my buddies.

It's only a few days to the concert now. I've been put on swing shift, 9:30 to 6:30, all week, working the salad bar. It's not hard work, it's just the little details that trip me up. Bo, my instructor, said it would be fine for me to run a early shift on Friday; that means I'll go in at 8, like a regular trade day, and leave at 3:30 - plenty of time for headcount and last minute packing. Brian and Scarlett are equally excited to go - we're all craving a night out like a fat kid craves cake. Today, though, I have an ESP, which is basically a general maintenance and upkeep for my track record. I don't think I'll be graduating to a silver card yet, my dorm score is still too low for it, but I can't wait to see how Bo's graded me. I got to know him and a lot of my other teammates a lot better during Camp Crew in Texas, so I feel more at home in the kitchens. I haven't studied for my ServSafe test in a while, though, so I hope I'll have a chance next week.

Wishlist again!
-Blank address labels. It's troublesome to ask dorm staff to print up a label if I want to send a box.
-Japanese Cherry Blossom from Bath and Body Works. My first bath set is nearly gone; I use the body wash, lotion, and body spray. I'm good on perfume.
-Cherry Blossom reed diffuser oil. This might be harder to find, but the girls love the smell.

I'm a little nervous. It's been a while since I performed on stage, and I'll have a friend there cheering me on. I want to do my best, but what if I've lost my touch?

I've decided second shift's a rough but worthwhile shift. I may take it more often in the future. I also want to make sure I'm ready for when I finish the program; a lot of people go on to advanced training in California. I know one interview question is whether you speak the language of your chosen cuisine. To that end, I'm going to save up for Rosetta Stone Japanese for my computer, and work with my friend Rachel as well.

With people leaving so often, it feels so hard to make and maintain friendships. I wonder if I've been forgotten as quickly by other people as I've forgotten some of the first faces I met when I arrived.

I forgot to do thank you's in my last blog, I think... So! For my big black bag, which I have used every day so far: Thank you Margaret! For fresh stamps: Thank you Grandma! For tasty treats: Thank you Mom and Dad, Linda and Grady, and Uncle Tony! For everyone who is thinking about me while I keep working: THANK YOU!!! I'll be able to come home for a visit soon, for a little better than two weeks. I miss everyone bunches!

New wishlist!
-Melaleuca Lip Conditioner. My stick is running low.
-Melaleuca Toothpaste. FreshMint (blue), not SpearMint (green). The gum was super tasty too, but I'd prefer the breathspray.
-New palette of eye makeup. I can't go around looking like a diva every time I choose to pretty up; gotta save some for stage :P

Camp Crew was less work than I expected, but oh my gosh, the climate! I can live with the 90 degree days and the 20 degree nights, but it was so freakin' dry! My nose bled every other day, and I was half sick with the temperature changes. I even lost my voice for a while there. But when I got it back, everyone kept asking me to sing each morning. One firefighter actually gave me a dollar for singing; I was so embarrassed!

I still feel very discombobulated after the breakup with Alex. I was working so hard to make a future with him possible, so now I feel like I have to recalibrate my entire plan for myself... I'm just happy we've stayed close. He really is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

To anyone who didn't hear it from me before, Happy mOther's Day!! I LOVE YOU BUNCHES!

Between my phone being replaced and being on shift, it's been difficult for me to want to write on this blog again.

This is Tim's last week on center; he graduates on Friday, and then he'll go back to Versailles, KY. We've made sure that we'll be able to keep in touch, but I'm still going to miss him very much.

So many people are leaving just as I got here, it seems. It begs the question: Why bother networking? It's gotten too painful for me to make friends and then lose them so quickly. Maybe I'll just absorb myself in extra duties; it might get me noticed for leadership or something...

For the first time since I got here, I've found myself missing home. Luckily, it's only another handful of weeks until we go on summer break :) even shorter until I perform with Mike McCarroll again.

Peatburn on Thursday was a bust! We got all the way there, only to have them tell us, "Oh, we don't need you now, it's been canceled." On the upside, during the drive back, I heard the song "Gimme That Wink" on the radio! I haven't heard that son on the radio since I was a girl in Key West! It really made my day.

It's been two months since I got here, & it already feels like home. The center supervisor, called "Dad" because of his initials, really meets a lot of people on their level. He's lots of fun. The rules are at a constant level similar to a high school, for the simple fact that it houses a piece of the school system, which makes it hard to give anyone a hug if they're opposite sex...

And my phone has decided it wants to die now. Hopefully the new phone my mom's ordered will come in really soon!

Figured out why my phone's been acting up. It'll hold out a while longer....

This past weekend was a little dull. Mostly I kept busy by watching movies with Tim Walton. Hopefully as the weather warms up, we can get in some tennis games before Walton graduates at the end of April. But the weather here is more schizo than Georgia! It snowed this past week yet again. My instructor thinks that's the last of it, though.

Walton's decided to try to take my mind off of Alex by taking me to London, KY on weekend pass. Since I hold a bronze Color Card, I get two weekend passes every month, so it's all good.

A few wishlist pieces...
- Pens. Good ones, superfine tips would be nice, either black or blue ink. I need them for outlining sketches & for labeling foods in the kitchens when I'm on shift.
- A change sorter to keep on my closet shelf. I always have a handful of change left over from payday, & my changepurse is getting full...

How is my closet not full yet? All I can say is, thanks for the door organizer, Mom - it's been a lifesaver!

Tomorrow I go out on a peatburn with the fire team, so I need all my rest. Ni ni!

The End Of Forever

On Monday, I ended my relationship with Alex Ray. It's the very hardest thing I've ever had to do - no words can adequately express how torn I still feel. I still love him very much, but we both seemed to agree that we fought too much & hurt each other more often than not. So, this blog is dedicated to Alex, who gave me two wonderful years full of sweet memories. You carried me through one of the very toughest times in my life, Teddy Bear, & I'll never be able to pay you back for it. I hope to heaven above that our paths will cross again. I love you, always forever, Alex Ray.

This past Friday, I got a box full of goodies from home! I ate some of the PopTarts right away, & I immediately shared the CDs with my friends. The ones who love country best absolutely adored the music, & I'm working on getting them hooked :P The headphone splitter is already becoming indispensable (Thanks so much for all the plugins, Uncle Tony!), & I can't wait to start using the colored pencils (Thanks to Linda & Grady, I love you guys!). If only I could finish a picture now...

Today I helped with the new student lunch. We served Chicken Cordon Bleu, Herb Roasted Potatoes, Creamed Spinach & Cherry Cobbler. What a feast!