Last Day of Work

So Tuesday was my last day of work. For lots of people, that would bring them lots of joy and/or relief. But for me, it was quite the opposite.


I have been working at the Interlibrary Loan office at the BYU library for 3 years. I started the summer after my freshman year of college, one week before school started. Besides the weeks I have taken off for vacations, study abroad, and other stuff like that, I have basically worked the whole time. I am more happy than I can say that I decided to work during school. It has been hard at times to balance everything going on in my life, but it has helped me to do just that. I initially got this job because I was going to have to pay for my tuition. Of course, just a couple of weeks after I got the job my grandma called me up and offered to pay it for me, which I of course accepted. But money aside, this job has given me lots of other things.

More than anything, I have gained so much confidence working there. After I had finished my first semester there, my boss promoted me to a level 2 position (there are five level 1s and two level 2s). That just basically meant that I would have more responsibility and would take on more of a leadership role. I remember feeling flattered that she had that much trust in me, but also scared that I wouldn't be very good at it. And at first, I really wasn't. There were other people to do most of my job and I didn't really have to step it up all that much. But then the others left and I was suddenly the one who had been there the longest and had the most experience. I decided that I was going to learn everything I could and become the best I could be at the job. There is nothing I hate more (well probably some things) than feeling stupid because I don't know the answer to something I should know the answer to. That had happened to me earlier in the job, and I determined it wouldn't happen again. I worked hard to identify problems we had and find solutions. I tried to learn everything I could about our processes so everything we did would make more sense to me. And in the process of doing all this I realized that I had found something I really loved to do. After working there, I have the confidence that I can really do anything I want if I just work hard and have the determination. I have been put into difficult situations (aka my boss gone for months and me having to take on a lot of her work) that I just had to deal with, and I did it. I have had the opportunity to teach others new things and see when it clicks and they get it. I know now that I am a person that can accomplish things if I just set my mind to it.


The other main thing I have gained in this job is friendship. Basically everyone I have worked with has been amazing and I have become friends with them. Especially the last 2 years- we only had one person leave and one person come in, so we all became really close. We like to talk and hear about eachother's lives, and sometimes we are a little nosy. For example, we knew that Tayva was pregnant before her family did! She meant to only tell Ti'Ata (my boss) privately, but we knew something was up and we discovered it. I guess when you spend time with people everyday you really learn how to read them. I am going to miss our weekly meetings complete with food and question of the week. I am going to miss our after-meeting meetings in which we sit around and chat for another 15 minutes. I am going to miss (well I already do) Candice's stories, Tayva falling asleep in random places, Jade's interesting vernacular and over-achieverness, Jeff and Becca's intellectual arguments, and Richard's rubberband flinging. And I will especially miss Ti'Ata and her amazingness. I really don't think you could ask for a better boss. Once you realize that when she freaks out about something, it will usually only last for about 2 minutes and she isn't actually mad at you at all, you can see how much she enjoys her job and how much she enjoys her employees. She is more than just my boss, she is my friend. Everyone in that office, the supervisors and co-workers alike, have been nothing but supportive and great to me. I am really going to miss everyone!


The last day was hard. On the way out I definitely even started to tear up a little. I will go back to visit before I leave, so that helped a little knowing that. I will miss it, but I know that I am going to do something worth leaving things I am comfortable for. It will be worth leaving my friends and family for a little while. And I will most definitely be back!