My Boss(es)

Some jobs allow you slack off a bit, text your friends, play on Facebook, make Amazon purchases, leave for an extra long lunch hour. All things which you quickly hide or minimize or explain away when you hear your boss walking down the corridor. My (soon-to-be) job does not. I have 23 little bosses that are ever present, ever alert, and ever noting loudly anything that is not as it should be.

My miniature bosses watch my every move. If I spell something wrong, dismiss them late for recess, make an error on a math problem, or am not prepared for a lesson. There are 23 sets of eyes ready to correct, remind, and question me. And I love it!

I have told the children that if they can catch mistakes that I make (and point it out politely!) they can receive a "proud paw". (Too difficult to explain - it's like school money to use at a school-wide store) In doing this, I want the children to learn and know that mistakes are okay. We all make mistakes. Our classroom is a place where mistakes are made, and corrected, and learned from. 

Oh, and I love my bosses. We've likely done a number of things that you have not done with your boss. We have sung and danced together. We go sledding. We've even wore our pajamas, had popcorn, watched movies. We hug. Every day. (Except after lunch. I do not allow the students to hug me after lunch. They are sticky, have unidentifiable stains on their shirts, and smell like ketchup. Miss. Lake does not hug after lunch. Ever.) 

Yep, and I like Mondays!

Teacher Wish List

Being single and not particularly tied to a place, I'm excited and slightly anxious about where my classroom will be located next fall.
How do I even begin this search? I've made a wish list! 

I would like my new school to be:

• in or near a fun city
• near a body of water
• warmish in the winter
• bike-to-from-able

I would like my new school to have:

• an administrator who supports and leads.
• a secretary who smiles. 
• teachers who care
• colleagues who have fun

Here are some other Google searches that has been directing my search: 

• happiest cities to live
• best cities for elementary teachers
• top ten healthiest cities
• smalltown feel in big cities
• best cities for singles

It's not too much to ask, right?

(I know, I know, I may not get a teaching job right away, but a girl can hope!)

Nutty visitors

This guy clearly heard there were plenty of nuts at the Seminary!!

(I came across this photo from late last summer when this little visitor stopped by our offices.)

Happy Day to Me

One year has passed since I first sat behind my desk in the south hall at Calvin Theological Seminary.

I've gone through two fish and have since gained two more. Countless bags of Starbursts and Twizzlers have been eaten by visitors wandering by and through. A number of colleagues have seen my little abode and more have been introduced to Si. These among a number of other things characterize the last 365 days in SM 126S.

Today's activities added to the story. This week is extremely quiet since a large majority of the students and faculty will not appear on campus because of Spring Break. Whilst they bask in warm weather somewhere other than Michigan, my coworkers and I find things to keep our spirits high.

Last Friday, I realized that this week I will have been working for one full year at Calvin, which definitely calls for somekind of party. I then invited all to a "surprise picnic party for V to celebrate her one year of employment at CTS" (Calvin Theological Seminary). Yes, it's weird and a touch narcissistic, but hey, it was fun!

Too cold to actually have a picnic, we enjoyed picnic-like food indoors with baked beans, macaroni salad and my all time favorite sausages (bratwursts) to all be finished off with cake and ice-cream.

Though clearly not a surprise since I organized it and sent out the e-mail.., my friends did surprise me with a table full of gifts. Knowing these people as I do, I knew not to get too excited about the possible contents of the packages.

See below.
(I apologize for the blurriness, the photographer later complained that I moved too much. Clearly he was right.)

I really don't know how to explain... Basically I'm wearing layers of other people's clothes given to me as gifts by loving colleagues. And yes, this included maternity shorts. I don't know either.

A Black Tie Affair

Having lived in an international community for nearly ten years, I got used to the odd outfits and clashing colour combinations of others and also experimenting myself with various styles and clothing items.

I loved the opportunity and took advantage of it happily. One article which I adopted into my wardrobe was wearing a necktie. Not daily, certainly not, and not weekly, simply as my mood directed me.

This was a style, which I quite liked and recently felt the necktie mood settling in. I was expecting some strange reactions from colleagues when I wore a tie to work on Thursday and was not proven wrong. At the end of the day I had survived their comments and with the worst behind me felt I could freely don the necktie in the future without being the brunt of too many jokes.

Then came Friday.

I had been asked and happily agreed to be the liturgist for our Thanksgiving chapel service at the seminary. No, I didn't wear a tie.

It was a nice service with a good sermon. After it concluded, a number of my colleagues came to the front where I was sitting to, I had thought, thank me and the preacher for the service. Nope. Every single one of them - women and men - was wearing a tie. I hadn't even noticed whilst I was leading, but they had sat all together in the first row of people proudly displaying their attire. Somehow I had totally missed it.

It's probably a good thing I didn't notice - who knows how the Thanksgiving prayer would have ended!

"Ya done good, Vee"

This is a post I drafted in late August at the end of our Orientation/Intensives weeks, but never published - not quite sure why.

The evening before I was in tears of frustration that with all my multi-tasking abilities, the tasks still exponentially multiplied and the work-day seemed to come to end more speedily each day.

My 'to-do' list grew just as quickly as my 'have-done' list. Deadlines I had set for myself and those given to me were menacingly near and I was sure that all the balls in the air would drop heavily next to me (or on me!) very soon.

I was waking up earlier, getting to work before the sun rose and attempting to sort through e-mails and organise tasks before colleagues and students appeared.

The dense feeling of being in over my head clouded my days. Though I faced each student and colleague with a smile and a 'can-do' attitude, I doubted my 'can-do-itness" and not sure how genuine my smile was.

Then at the end of two very tiring orientation weeks and at the beginning of an ominously new and uncharted semester, my boss succinctly and randomly said to me: "Ya done good, Vee".

He surely has no idea the weight that this simple colloquial phrase carried, but exactly at that moment it had the power to spur me to keep on keeping on, as they say. That despite my uncertainty and insecurity, despite my forgetting where rooms are located and who's responsible for what - I was doing alright.

I post this now to remind myself the power of a few encouraging words. I'm no longer the 'newbie' at Calvin as since April others have been hired on in varying positions. I remember how strengthening it was to hear kinds words from colleagues applauding my hard efforts or appreciating my spirit of teamwork. Now it's my turn to value and appreciate the gifts in my new colleagues whom I truly do value and appreciate. But do they know this?

Take Your Work Home

Today I purposefully took my work home, as I had my boss and his young family over for a taco-fest. Stories of bike rides around West Michigan, silly dog antics, international adventures and varying church practices filled my apartment as we shared in table fellowship together.

You may disagree, but I want to take my work home with me. I want to know my colleagues more and allow them to know me. I want my work to come home and sit around my table. I want my work to see Silas as he lazily does nothing all day. I want my work to kick off their shoes, put their feet up and tell their stories while not constrained by the timeclock.

I want my work to see photos of where I've been and who has formed me. I want my work to tell me stories and make me laugh a full belly laugh. I want my work not to need to watch their "p's and q's" in my small home.

Today, is the first of hopefully many 14 hour 'work' days which begins in the office in Grand Rapids and ends around my table in Grandville.

Three Months Later...

Dear Applicant:

Thank you very much for submitting your application for Program Assistant in the Multicultural Programs department. Although we greatly appreciate your interest in this position, we were fortunate in the number of qualified applicants who applied to this position and our final decision has been made.

We wish you great success in your job search. Again, many thanks for your interest.

Human Resources

I've so many comments to make on this. All I'll say is that I'm happy to have heard back, but am even happier that it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. This job would have placed me in Chicago-land (which I love), but I need to be in Michigan right now and am pleased to be here.

It's very odd to think back to those days when I was searching and applying to jobs, wondering where I would end up, if anywhere at all. How amazed and thankful I am to be where I'm at today and truly happy in my work.

ZZzzzz...

I'm a dreamer more than a feeler. I mean these terms in a very practical way.

Tomorrow is graduation for nearly 60 students at Calvin Theological Seminary and my role is similar to that of a 'wedding planner'. Making sure students and faculty know where they need to be, when they need to be there and what they should do when they are there. Weeks leading up to tomorrow, I've been preparing floor plans, finding photographers, sorting out details with the event's coordinator at the location and reading through graduate names a million times to be sure all have made their way into the line up and the programme.

It's been also a fun collegial effort as I've been learning who on staff has the answers to which questions - where are the table cloths, who has the list of graduate e-mails, what is procedure for getting details to faculty and so on; whilst regularly checking in with the Vice President of Academic Affairs, to whom I'm the Administrative Assistant - which I still thoroughly enjoy doing.

Being new to Calvin and the American academic world, it's been an interesting education as I learn terminology and procedures for preparing and holding such an event. Which in this context feels quite foreign and makes me quite nostalgic for IBTS.

I don't feel nervous or stressed or actually anything about tomorrow. It's coming, I will appear 2 hours early with my notes and props in hand, with the VPAA we will do the final sorting through details, I will then sit back to enjoy the pomp and circumstance, and then I'll go home and make bagels.

But I know it's affecting me.

Before my opening lecture with the CATS at IBTS, a few days before the Prague Half-Marathon and before presenting my first ever sermon/homily, I've had wacky dreams themed on each of those events.

The same was true for this upcoming graduation. It was a frightening dream where everything that could go wrong did. Half the graduates didn't appear, I left all my notes and information in my office (off site), the guests were all stuck out in the rain and so on... Thankfully, all the events listed above which had odd dreams prior to them went swimmingly, so am hoping the same for tomorrow!!

SM 126S

From 08.00 - 16.30 this is my new home: office SM 126S. Not sure what the "SM" stands for, possibly "seminary" and the "S" is likely "south" but haven't sorted that out either. I suppose it doesn't matter too much, as long as I know how to get there, get in and do the work - which so far I've done successfully for 4 days.

I've caught on to the tasks given me thus far and have felt pleased and somewhat fulfilled at the end of each working day. Though I have to admit to you that it is Spring Break, which means students are not around and many faculty and staff are working minimally. This means I have space to work on projects without interruptions which are sure to come next week and following.

I still slip up when talking about IBTS and say 'our seminary' and 'we have' when mentioning the student body in Prague. The transition will come that the 'our seminary' will be me and Calvin Theological Seminary and the 'we have' will be students studying here in West Michigan. Though I'm not entirely sure that I want it to... at least not yet.

Reflections for Easter Monday

When searching for her in a book of names you will learn that it means "butterfly". In grade school this rather embarrassed me as my friends "Listener of God" (Samantha), "Pure" (Cathy), "God's Princess" (Sarah) and many "God Saves" (Joshua) and "Gift of God"s (Jonathan) paraded around with the spiritual names; I was stuck with a bug.

Later, I learned to appreciate the beauty and fragility of this small creature, as well as its strength and resilience. Certainly not disregarding the symbolism of new life as experienced in our Christian journey.

The Baptist tradition which I grew up in did not recognise Easter Monday, apart from it being the day you did not want to have a dental appointment due to the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans which disappeared the day before.

However, for the last nine years I've lived in a Christian community which considers and celebrates this and many other events in the Christian church calendar. This Easter season began with sweet pancakes of Shrove Tuesday, sorrowful ashes of Ash Wednesday, the long travail through the Lenten journey, the warmth of memories on Mothering Sunday, rejoicing at Palm Sunday and the emotion and power of Holy Week, culminating in the victorious resurrection celebrated on Easter Sunday morning.Easter Monday is a day away from the office, no classes are taught and the buses run on holiday schedule. This is the first day of a new journey, a new and fresh hope. The flower buds are showing their spring colours, the butterfly wriggles nearly ready to burst from her cocoon and all are invited to reflect on the past days and renew their vision for the future.

On my journey this butterfly will test her wings in a different field. The Lenten weeks are passed. The struggles, the frustrations and disappointments have been many, but have not broken her spirit. On this Easter Monday 2010, a fresh breeze is blowing clear a new and exciting path.

Proof

This is taken from the Staff Directory of Calvin Theological Seminary's website.

It makes me smile and also gives me the pinch of reality that actually; Yes, I do have a job and Yes, I do start on Monday and Yes, they are looking forward to my joining their team!

I can't stop smiling!

(Don't worry there are other women on staff, just not with last names that begin with "K" or "L"!)

AAVPAA

Ladies and Gentlemen, We would like to draw your attention to the smiling brunette to the left of this text.

Her name is Vanessa Lynn Lake, date of birth 21 August 1979 and current resident of Grandville, Michigan.

We are delighted to announce that this ever-so-delightful young woman has been offered the full-time position of Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.

Yes, of course, she accepted!!

YIPPEE!

Woes of the Workless

I've only been officially unemployed in Michigan for 3 1/2 days and perhaps I should be enjoying the unexpected holiday and bask in the lazy glow of responsibilitilessness. But I have this bug which is pinching me to get on with finding activities to give me something to look forward to when I wake in the morning.

Realising that the employers for whose jobs I've applied have yet to recognise the great addition I would make to their workforce, I decided to move forward to see what the state of Michigan could offer someone in my situation.

Thinking that I could have a minimal income during these weeks and possible months of waiting for a job, I decided to look into filing for unemployment benefits. However, because I've not worked in Michigan before, I'm ineligible.

Thinking then that I could help my parents out a bit with food consumption I looked into applying for a special Michigan debit card (a Bridge card) which allows an unemployed person to purchase food (even seeds for growing gardens!) up to a certain amount per month. However, because I live with my parents I'm again ineligible.

Ah, but not to worry! My parents are happy to feed me and I'm happy to eat their food whilst on the job hunt. And I remain in good spirits about what the future may present.

I've also begun exploring possibilities for volunteering within the community and finding random free events for people just like me. This Saturday will be the first adventure, so stay tuned!

Michigan Math

Michigan - the US state with the highest unemployment rate




PLUS


Holland, Michigan - the US city with the happiest people



EQUALS



Many happy unemployed folk !




Welcome to my world !