There has been a ton of new stuff going on in my life lately. Far more than this stability - loving girl likes. But I'm hanging in there and pressing on. Sandwiched between the very Dauntless trip to Glenwood Springs, and the nerve-wracking trip to Wyoming, I spent my first week at my new job as a Customer Care Manager at Level 3 Communications. That's basically a fancy term for a project manager. I was one of about a hundred new hires for this role, approximately half of which are scattered throughout the country.
I was thrust into five weeks of training involving tons of new people (no! Anything but new people!), more new information than I could possibly absorb, and a whole lot of confusion. But I made it through, and this week, we were all finally handed over to our new managers. I'm still in a bit of training for a few weeks before my manager starts throwing me my own orders to work on.
It's been interesting. I have never had a regular 8-5 office job before. Academia is pretty darn flexible, and my job at the cleaners, while full time, was only 3.5 days a week. It's not terribly far from home, and I manage the parking lot that is I-270 every morning fairly well. Thank goodness for podcasts! There are some cool people at my job, and I think I'll like working there.
Landing this job marks a significant milestone in my life. I finally, at nearly 33 years of age, have a job that will actually pay all of my bills, and give me good health coverage. I am finally on the verge of financial independence. Next year, I'll finally have the money to be able to pay for all of my medical bills as well. Granted, supporting one's self feels good to anyone. But to an Autistic, chronically ill, cult survivor with PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression, who wasn't even allowed to go to college until she was 22, this is amazing. I'm making enough that, though I won't have much left over, I can even afford to support myself in a place with such a high cost of living as Denver, and I can even do it while living alone. I even have a 401k and life insurance! I might even be able to buy a house in a few years.
It's kind of amazing, when I think about it. Here I am, with a Master's degree, living alone in a city well over a thousand miles away from my parents as a single female, wearing makeup, awesome clothes, and just living my own life. Making my own way. Living in a way that I was taught for years was, not just wrong, but actually dangerous and even evil. But I feel so free. I'm actually getting to the point of loving my life. It may not be anything like how I imagined or wanted it, but who cares? I'm in a good place and headed for good things. At the end of the day, that's really all that matters.
I was thrust into five weeks of training involving tons of new people (no! Anything but new people!), more new information than I could possibly absorb, and a whole lot of confusion. But I made it through, and this week, we were all finally handed over to our new managers. I'm still in a bit of training for a few weeks before my manager starts throwing me my own orders to work on.
It's been interesting. I have never had a regular 8-5 office job before. Academia is pretty darn flexible, and my job at the cleaners, while full time, was only 3.5 days a week. It's not terribly far from home, and I manage the parking lot that is I-270 every morning fairly well. Thank goodness for podcasts! There are some cool people at my job, and I think I'll like working there.
Landing this job marks a significant milestone in my life. I finally, at nearly 33 years of age, have a job that will actually pay all of my bills, and give me good health coverage. I am finally on the verge of financial independence. Next year, I'll finally have the money to be able to pay for all of my medical bills as well. Granted, supporting one's self feels good to anyone. But to an Autistic, chronically ill, cult survivor with PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression, who wasn't even allowed to go to college until she was 22, this is amazing. I'm making enough that, though I won't have much left over, I can even afford to support myself in a place with such a high cost of living as Denver, and I can even do it while living alone. I even have a 401k and life insurance! I might even be able to buy a house in a few years.
It's kind of amazing, when I think about it. Here I am, with a Master's degree, living alone in a city well over a thousand miles away from my parents as a single female, wearing makeup, awesome clothes, and just living my own life. Making my own way. Living in a way that I was taught for years was, not just wrong, but actually dangerous and even evil. But I feel so free. I'm actually getting to the point of loving my life. It may not be anything like how I imagined or wanted it, but who cares? I'm in a good place and headed for good things. At the end of the day, that's really all that matters.
WOW - what an update! Great to hear at the end of the day all is well with you!
ReplyDelete