I have an ID card--it must be official?!

Sooo, just finished my inaugural week at a new job after a long hiatus, and the first thing I've gotta tell you is...man, I'm seriously out of shape, y'all! Not in an athletic way, mind you, since I've had plenty of time to keep up with exercise in my...ahem...life of leisure. More like needing to rebuild the stamina required to wake up at a prescribed time, (*prepare and imbibe coffee*), select and don an office-appropriate outfit, apply a business-ready face, wrangle the hair into compliance, exit the house in a punctual fashion...and then spend hours being, you know, "productive". It's a LOT, folks! (I'm joking, of course; I know I'm preaching to the proverbial choir, here, because all of you are out there killin' it every day...so let me just say, you're doing great, keep up the good work!)

Now, part of the issue was that for the first 2 days, I was scheduled for mandatory orientation sessions beginning at 8:30. (NOT my favorite--or most bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed--start-time, given a choice. Alas, no one asked me for my input...) Monday's marathon kicked off with the UNC half-day version of "everything you ever wanted and/or needed to know about the institution itself, plus lots of HR-type information that you may or may not remember 5 minutes from now, since it's an overwhelming amount of...stuff".

(Not to worry--they were also super-diligent about providing the online location of everything they discussed, so once our brains filled up and shut down, we'd still be able to retrieve the important details later, when we'd actually find them useful!) This was followed by another presentation in the afternoon, specific to the School of Medicine, and focusing on more tech-related topics like network access and security, email setup, timesheet entry, and whatnot.

Whew--that was exhausting...and also quite a shock to the system already, compared to my prior  onboarding experience, which must have taken, oh, about 15 minutes for the tiny self-contained non-profit! (Okay, I'm probably exaggerating...though I do honestly recall it being brief and uncomplicated...) But wait, there's MORE...on Tuesday (after first visiting the Public Safety division to obtain my official parking permit--yay! At 8 a.m. Boo!) I got to show up at my actual workplace, for an official introduction to the building where I'd be setting up shop, so to speak. This was given by the man in charge of programs and operations, and included both me and the other new employee joining the staff at the same time (a research scientist whom I coincidentally met at the previous day's shindig).

We went over what you'd expect: a thorough description of the department's structure and function, as well as essential policies and procedures. And then...the Grand Tour...in which I must have been presented to, I don't know, it seemed like at least 50 people, although I can't be entirely sure...I guess let's just go with "a whole lotta colleagues" and leave it at that. My head was seriously swimming by the end, and I'm not gonna remember half their names until I've met them several more time...but everyone seemed lovely!

Ay yi yi...where are we now? Oh yeah, Wednesday. I had permission to show up at 9 (Whoo hoo! I don't know exactly why, but what a difference that half-hour makes...) for a quick confab with IT to get my computer running properly, then a longer chat with one of the aforementioned delightful coworkers I'll be directly supporting in my endeavors. She went over lots of the nitty gritty specifics about what I'll be doing not only on a daily basis, but also in the course of each academic year. So, with all of the data trickling in from various sources, I'm slowly forming a picture of what my position will look like and how it will function. Good times.

Thursday I was not expected to put in an appearance, because my presence was requested again on Friday morning. That's one quirky aspect of my role: it's budgeted for an exact number of hours a week, and I'm required to log that many--no more or less. Thus there was some impromptu adding on Wednesday to see where I stood, and determine how long I could come in for on the last day of the week. (Fun math! LOL...)

It turned out that I was available for about a half-day, so I was able to attend the 8 a.m. meeting (again with the crack of dawn...at least as far as MY body clock goes--sheesh!) I was supposed to observe--as well as clean out, organize, and set up my cubicle the way I wanted it. I mean, scrounging around in the supply closet for sticky notes and pens and such, stocking one of my desk drawers with my secret stash of healthy snacks, scoping out where to best display a couple of family photos...you know the drill. (And it was oh so satisfying, I'm not gonna lie...) All too soon, though, 12:30 rolled around and I had to skedaddle, after fulfilling my quota for Week 1.

All kidding aside, it felt like a solid first week back in the old Rat Race, if you will. Moving forward, I should be able to set a pretty regular schedule....without having to include early mornings, for the most part, which is a goshdarn blessing. And I'll be learning on-the-go about what my duties will be, and how to perform them, so I'm looking forward to that being interesting and stimulating. In short, I'm grateful to have been chosen for this opportunity, thrilled to be kicking off a new adventure, and excited for what's to come. Here goes nothin'!