This summer, I worked as a Summer Resident Assistant for the UIS Housing Department. I mostly worked with the East Side of campus since I'll be working there next school year. One requirement that I know that I'm going to regret is the 4 hour required desk shift at the Central Housing Office (respectfully dubbed HCOM). When it comes to professionalism, I make sure I put on my shiny shoes and my professional voice for the customer, yet, after working at HCOM within the past three months, I discovered how rude people these days. I try to treat people with the same customer service that I would hope to get when I call for questions/comments/concerns, however, caution is thrown in the wind and the profanity and insults come flying at us. However, I was looking at ways to improve my customer service capabilities and I think people should be glad that I don't answer the phone like this:
So near the end of the spring 2009 semester, I participated in a Small Group that was apart of the Christian Student Fellowship organization. It was truly an amazing experience. I read through the book titled “True Faced” written by John Lynch with my small group; the entire experience was definitely something that I learned and grew a lot from as I bonded and got to know my group members on a personal level.
The group was headed by Howard and Jeremy and I received the opportunity to get to know a kid named Will Alonso who came all the way from Pennsylvania to Central Illinois (I know right). I’d say that the entire event was the pinnacle of my growth as a person because each chapter somehow tied itself into some internal struggle or obstacle that I would encounter each week (obviously God works in mysterious ways in trying to reach out to people in need). I’m really glad that I got the chance to take part in such a great learning experience: I’ve learned so much about myself and why I act the way that I do and the discovery of the major flaws that are preventing me from becoming the person that I want to be. I won’t use this posting as an outlet of emotion on everything that I talked about, however, I will give you a Top 5 List that I feel that the book has helped me accomplish:
5. I’ve managed/still working on removing all of the negativity from my life and looking at life and situations from a more positive point of view.
4. Established a closer relationship with my family, especially my brother (whom I’ve never been able to seem eye to eye with).
3. Gotten the chance to connect with Will Alonso whom I found out I share a lot in common with (especially our love for the movie Van Helsing)
2. I’ve watched the friendship that I had with Jeremy grow stronger and bonded with Howard Kang who has helped me out more than he knows.
And……
1. I’ve seen an increase in my spiritual where I am praying more and growing closer to God. As a result of this, I feel as if my life is going straight up from here on.
So...I've been really busy this summer with my job at the Housing Department and taking summer classes at school, I've been slacking and inhibiting the world on the on-goings in life. However, very soon (now that I have time), I will release a diarrhea of blogs detailing Summer 2009: HOLLER!
