Friday, January 14, 2005
the reason why I am gainfully unemployed
I went to this lame-ass career expo at the university today, thinking that it might help me come up with a few more ideas for what I should do after I graduate. It was awful. Even the free pizza (which was so bad I considered the possibility that they were trying to poison me) and juice didn't redeem the event.
But the suckers at Arts Advising are also ridiculously self-serving and are always looking for people to praise their moronic events, so they sent me a little online survey to fill out. This is what I wrote in the commentary section:
"The expo was excruciatingly long, very restrictively organized, and not very useful. I would have greatly preferred a layout of booths with pamphlets about career options and alumni to answer questions at their leisure.
I did not appreciate being allowed to attend only 2 panels, both of which occurred at the same time as others which I would have liked to attend had I been permitted. I also resented being forced to stay seated for the entire presentation rather than being able to walk around and see what interested me the most.
I found it frustrating that one entire panel said that my degree was useless without further training. I did not find any of the information very helpful, especially with regards to "networking," since the advice was vague and at times unrealistic. I would have liked to see a wider variety of careers (fewer people involved in business and web design!) and more time for questions.
I was VERY disappointed by the constant and irritating advertising of supplementary workshops which all cost extra. No one knew anything about working as an English teacher abroad, which is an extremely fast-growing industry for BA holders -- this I found utterly baffling. Much of the time a simple answer to students' questions would have been much more effective than a recommendation that they attend another workshop or visit the career center. On the whole, it was a tedious experience that I don't care to repeat."
Well, they asked, right? And it's not like I was rude. I never used the words "shitheads," "dumb," "moronic," "pointless," or "fuck you," though I certainly would have liked to. But as usual, I resent university staff who are supposedly trying to help clueless students by giving them a series of useless presentations in the hope that they will PAY for more information. That is just shameful and I won't abide by it.
In other news, I have found a reason to loathe New Year's resolutions (Gage, I've see the light!). The gyme has been chock-full of people these days, so full that I often can't even get a cardio machine for a lousy five minute warm-up. I was puzzled as to why this was until I realised: shit! NEW YEAR'S RESOFUCKINGLUTIONS! Everyone has resolved to a) lose weight, and b) get into shape, and in the case of the girls (who make up the vast majority at my gyme) I'm betting that resolution a) comes before resolution b) most of the time. About 70-90% of the people working out are a) so thin already they should be in a hospital ward being fed through a tube, or b) utterly clueless as to how the equipment works and are thus much more likely to drop weights on themselves, or more importantly, on me.
Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm ALL in favour of people starting new exercise plans. But why do they all have to do it at the same time? New Year's Resolutions, that's why. And so they bug me.
I also managed to drop a weight on myself the other day, which made me feel like a complete tool. It was a round 25 pound plate and it landed on my finger. Sorry, capillaries! You've been awfully nice to me, and then I go and mess it all up by bursting you! At least it looks wicked.
Went to my first capoeira class last night. It was great, because while I was not terribly coordinated (I have always been utterly dyslexic about right vs. left legs and arms, hands and feet, whatever other limbs I possess...yeah I think that's all), for the first time ever in a martial arts class I was not at all worn-out by the running, push-ups, sit-ups, jumping, acrobatics, and sparring. I'm pretty sure I was the only girl to finish all 20 push-ups (come ON, girls!), and I think my push-ups are not nearly as good as they were a month ago. I also found the whole thing to be quite interesting on an emotional/spiritual (though I loathe that word and its connotations) level -- the music and the movements were almost liberating, because they're nothing close to anything you would ever do in daily life, or in a workout. I almost felt like Mowgli in the Jungle Book, getting to walk on my hands and crawl around and clap and yell along to crazy tribal beats. I don't think I have any Brazilian blood in me, but I certainly felt pretty connected to it. I would have felt more connected if my limbs hadn't been constantly tangled.
Anyway I will stick with it and we'll see how it goes.
It's really bloody late now, so I'd best be off.
Thanks to everyone for their comments and emails. I really appreciate it.
Cheers,
-N
