Last week I caught up with the girls (Maura and Ashley) on Messenger and let them know how I was doing. They said they missed me and the subject arose on me coming back again . I let them know that things were going well at Giant Eagle. Maura told me that I had a spot on the Pittsburgh-Dollar crew at WIS if I ever wanted to come back. I told her I’d keep that in mind.
If anything it’s a nice fallback plan should Giant Eagle not work out. Things are great right now and we’re heading into our busiest week of the season. I talked to my mom and I do miss my friends at WIS but the best advice for me right is to stick with the Eagle. It’s convenient for me as I’m five minutes from home plus I’m guaranteed forty hours (for now). Don’t know what January and February will hold yet but I’m confident I’ll be in good shape.
This isn’t the only time I’ve struggled with staying at my current position, going back to what I was doing, or applying for something else. Let’s go back 20 years to the Spring of 2001.
I just completed my first semester at the community college and did very well. I was planning to take some summer classes while continuing to live at the Hiram G. Andrews Center. But I missed my friends at HGA and wanted to go back there and take their accounting curriculum. The difference between the programs is that the college is more theory, while HGA is more hands on. My OVR counselor and my friend told me that if I go back to HGA there’s no going back from it.
I stuck with my original plans and continued to attend the Community College. It worked out as I was able to transfer credits to Slippery Rock University a year and a half later and enroll there. I began my courses at the Rock in Fall of 2003.
If I go back because I miss my old life, I might miss out on a great opportunity.
Another time I was in this situation was during my time at Kings. Let’s go back to Christmas in 2006. I’m a few months into being employed by Kings and I hated my life. I thought to myself, “I have a little work experience under my belt”. I looked ahead to the WestPACS job fair in March. Then in 2008, I just wanted to get the hell out of there and contemplated going back to school. I got brochures from CALU and had two majors in mind. I was even going to set up a campus visit.
The WestPACS job fair in March 2007 was a bust. I was in over my head. I applied for a sales position at Bankers Life but it wasn’t going to pan out. Sales isn’t really my strong suit. I’ve been back to a few job fairs since but became comfortable with working at WIS and stayed there 13 years.
I was talked out of applying at CALU in September 2008 because I still had the loans to pay back from Slippery Rock and there was no way OVR would helped me anyways. That didn’t stop me from trying again in 2011 and once again I even scheduled orientation. But once again I backed out. It took me more than a decade to get over my funk. I become more content after 2013.
I didn’t really need to apply for jobs that weren’t for me; or, go back to school for a degree that wasn’t for me. I just wanted to get out of jail.
While the offer is there to go back to WIS, make it a fallback plan. Don’t do it because you miss your old life. Don’t tank Giant Eagle either to go back. You may just miss a golden opportunity.
Best advice is to just stick with it.
Stylish 🍒 