The Distance

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“The Distance” By Darricka Malone …[s]he's racing and pacing and plotting the course, [S]he's fighting and biting and riding on his (her) horse. The sun has gone down and the moon has come up, And long ago somebody left with the cup. But [s]he's striving and driving and hugging the turn… “The Distance” by Cake On April 29, 2011, I attended the Memphis in May music festival with my friend Amy. Despite the fact I grew up in a small Arkansas town that was only 30 minutes away from Graceland, this was my first time attending this well-known music festival. ®

The first band scheduled to play on the Budweiser stage was Cake. They started to play a few songs from some of their earlier CD’s. Then, they played a couple of songs from their new CD that was either already available for purchase or was coming out soon. After about an hour of performing, the lead singer announced to the audience that they were going to perform one last song for their fans. This announcement brought a strange hush over the crowd. All the talking, shouting, and the smoking of cigarettes and marijuana stopped. I glanced over the crowd and saw the anticipation on their faces, the same look that was probably displayed on my face of “please play my favorite song." I wasn’t sure what song the other fans were waiting on, but I knew what I wanted to hear. Suddenly, the lead singer began with “Reluctantly crouched at the starting line…” The audience went wild, the silence was broken, and the crowd erupted with extreme excitement and super powered energy. The shouting, dancing, and head rocking became more intense, a true sign that the audience was waiting to hear “The Distance.” Once the song ended, the energy of the crowd was that of great satisfaction. As my friend and I walked through the dense crowd, we heard commits like, “man that was awesome” and “closing the concert with that song was great.” Everyone leaving the concert appeared to be completely “hyped.” After the Cake concert, Amy and I began to make the journey to the next show. During our walk, I had an epiphany. I realized that I had been “going the distance.” For the first time, I realized that I was finally a part of the professional working world that included the benefits of having money to go on trips,

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Version 5 buy clothes, attend concerts, and take vacation days that allowed me to go out and enjoy myself. By continuing to go “The Distance”, I had finally achieved my goal of securing a job in my field of study. I had finally arrived at the finish line and completed the race. It was August of 1999 and I and was completing my last semester at UCA. I was fortunate enough to acquire a job with the TELE-WIRELESS company. I worked the night shift opening and processing payments. This shift was extremely difficult to work. The art of working on this shift was to find ways to keep myself awake. I developed the habit of walking around with a CD player and headphones. It was beige and silver with all the “bells and whistles." It was my sanctuary, my escape from the noise of loud machines, the whispers of gossiping employees, and my system to stay awake and stay sane. I had a variety of music that I kept with me on nights I was scheduled to work. During those long nights, I found myself jamming to Outkast, Fleetwood Mac, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Korn. However, the best CD that helped me make it through those nights of fighting the urge to sleep was the Fashion Nugget CD by the band Cake. Even though the entire CD was awesome, I played the song “The Distance” repeatedly. I didn't know at the time that the lyrics of this song would ring true in my own life. According to the Workforce Central Florida article “Understanding Four Generations in the Workplace,” there are currently four generations of workers in today’s workforce: Traditionalists, Baby boomers, Generation X and Millennials. The article explains further that Traditionalist were born before 1945 and that they believe in a more structured environment where they respected authority figures and expected to have a lifetime career with their employer. The Baby boomers are those who were born in the timeframe of 1946 to 1964. Born during a time of reform, they are the generation who lacks fear in questioning authority and prided themselves on having a professional career and accomplishments. They are not very keen on flexible work schedules or working from home (Workforce Central Florida website). However, Generation X seeks a more of a “work/life balance.” They believe in acquiring new skills that they can take with them to other companies and tend not to have any loyalty in their work environment (Hmm, this sounds familiar). Millennials are considered the youngest of the four groups. Like those of Generation X, they to desire a “work/life balance” and a lack of loyalty in their place of work. However,

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Version 5 they tend “to live in the moment,” view work as “a means to an end”, and have less attention spans because they grew up learning to multitask (Workforce Central Florida website). Despite the fact I am a part of the Generation X group, I had the expectations of those of the Traditionalist generation. I believed that once I obtained my degree and my foot in the door of a good company, I would eventually move-up the corporate latter to a position in my field of study. Unfortunately, th

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my 20 century school of thought of having a successful career didn’t fit into the 21 century workforce model. I found myself working three years in a basement, processing payments. It didn’t matter how many jobs I applied for and the number of pre-screenings I went to, my expectations of how things were supposed to work out was becoming obsolete. I had officially graduated from UCA in December of1999 after six years of attendance. I waited patiently for my degree certificate to arrive by mail. It finally arrived in February of 2000. Once I had that certificate in my hand, I felt that the only direction I would be going in the corporate world was up. st

I was sadly mistaken. In the 21 century workplace, a degree may be required but it didn't guarantee a successful career. The job that I had at the time was considered “a foot in the door” job. I believed that my college degree was going to help me make a smooth transition into my dream job, which was working in the advertising, marketing, or something that my degree would be a good fit. Those dreams were soon dashed when my supervisor informed me that I had to be employed in my current job for a year before I could apply for another position within the company. In most corporations, this is a standard requirement for employees. However, I was a little heartbroken but decided to make the best of this situation. My plan was to work in the remittance processing department for a year, and then start my job search within the company soon after. I was “plotting the course.” It seemed like forever, but I had served my year in the remittance processing department. “Reluctantly crouched at the starting line, Engines pumping and thumping in time. The green light flashes, the flags go up. Churning and burning, they (I) yearn for the cup.”

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Version 5 Every chance I got, I searched job postings on the company's intranet site, but found nothing that I was interested in. Months past and I continued to search. Finally, I began to see job postings that would be a perfect match. Some of the job postings clearly stated that a degree was required and the experience was 0-2 years’ experience. This was perfect, I was a recent graduate, and the job was an entry-level position. You would think this would be a slam-dunk, at least getting an interview with the hiring manager. I found out quickly that wasn’t the case. If your resume showed some potential to a recruiter, you would receive a call from the recruiter for a pre-screening. The recruiter would send the results to the hiring manager and if they approved of the pre-screening results, you were invited for another interview. This process became somewhat of a hardship when I started working on the morning shift. I would have to drive across town for the pre-screening, which meant that everyone knew that I had an interview. Even though it was an internal interview, I was also required to make up for the hours I had missed for that day. After many months of applying for internal positions, I finally received a call from a recruiter who wanted to schedule a pre-screening. I was hoping to hide this fact from my department manager by leaving for my interview a little early so he wouldn’t see me. To my dismay, my plan failed. As I was making my way out of the building, my department manager was walking in. The look on his face was that of surprise and bewilderment. For a few seconds, we stared at each other. I could tell from the expression on his face that he wanted to ask me why I was dressed up and where was I going. I was too busy staring at his shaved head. "Wow, he finally relinquished his vanity and accepted the fact he was going bald," I thought to myself. For the past year, he had been trying to keep that patch of hair that was located in the front of his head, which only sends out a signal of a man denying the fact that he is losing his hair. "Thank God, he finally shaved his head," I thought to myself. I finally broke the silence by saying, “good morning.” While displaying an inquisitive look on his face, he responded with a sarcastic tone of, “and good morning to you,”. It didn’t take long for my supervisor to reveal that I was indeed on my way to a pre-screening for an internal position. My quest for seeking a new position that would lead me on my journey up the corporate latter came to an abrupt end when the hiring freeze went into effect. A year and a half went by before the freeze was lifted. I began my search again. Every job I applied for resulted in either a rejection letter or a pre-screening interview, which would be followed by a rejection

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Version 5 letter a week later. I had work there for two years and I hadn’t moved anywhere. However, the journey took an unforeseen turn, the "powers that be" decided to outsource our department to a bank. Our team was informed that there would be lay-offs and job reassignments. I was one of the lucky ones who were going to be reassigned to a new job. Of course, it wasn’t anything I was interested in and I would be working for a supervisor I despised. He approached me and presented a job offer, not as my job reassignment. Seeing this as a job offer and not my job reassignment, I politely refused his offer and informed him that I wanted to explore other opportunities within the company that would coincide with my education. I received a telephone call on my day off, which was a conference call that didn’t include my supervisor. This impromptu conference call included the current department, the new manager who would be taking over the department, and the supervisor that offered me a job on his team. I was informed that if I didn’t take this job, I was agreeing to resign from the company when my current department would be outsourced. The overwhelming feeling of being ganged up on caused me to concede to these unfair terms. “Their prowess is potent and secretly stern.” Once the call had ended, I became enraged and depressed. After a few minutes of screaming and crying, I called my mother at work to inform her of what had taken place and the reason why I didn’t want to work for a manger I didn’t like. My mother, who is a firm believer in ignoring the crappy events that goes on in a workplace, told me that if I wanted to leave TELE-WIRELESS to pursue other ventures, she would fully support me. However, she informed me to think it over first, and not do something hasty due to the vicious incident that occurred. I put my two weeks' notice in three weeks before the department was to be outsourced to a bank. On June 15, 2002, I worked my last shift, did my exit interview, and went out to lunch with co-workers to say my final good byes. It was a hard choice but I was determined to move on and seek out my dream career. The managers who ganged up on me in a threaten manner were shocked. They couldn’t believe that I was actually leaving. I had a desire to pursue my career and I refused to let anything stand in my way. What they couldn’t understand at the time was that I had nothing to lose.

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Version 5 For the next two years, I worked temporary jobs to make ends meet. My first temporary job was a great starting point for a possible career in doing technical writing or graphic design. Even though I was qualified for the position and there was possibility of a full time position and advancement, $9.13 per hour was not enough, especially when you are accustomed to making more than that an hour. I finally landed a permanent position at a law firm but I became very depressed with the work I was doing. For five days a week, I would electronically update notes of bankruptcy files. Seven months later, I found a contract position at the electric company. I enjoyed the work but the hours became unpredictable. I would schedule a hair appointment for five o’ clock on Friday. After I would make my hair appointment, all employees would receive an email informing us that we needed to work until seven or risk working a whole day on Saturday. When an African-American woman has a hair appointment, there is no stopping her. Unless she dies suddenly, there is a death in the family, or she is going into labor, she is not going to miss her hair appointment. After six months of that hassle, I accepted a position at a bank. I knew from the start that there was no future for me there, so I resigned and began working as a temporary worker at an insurance company. I was hired as a full time employee after five months of working as a temporary employee. Once again, I was starting over. “Reluctantly crouched at the starting line, Engines pumping and thumping in time. The green light flashes, the flags go up…” Working for the insurance company wasn’t so bad, but I still yearned for that perfect job as a writer or editor. Sadly, technical writing jobs no longer existed at the Little Rock insurance worksite. Once again, I was still determined to achieve a position that would involve some form of writing. “Still driving and striving as fast as [s]he can…” As with the usual status quo, I spent a year in the customer service processing department. I enjoyed the job but not the pay. Insurance companies and banks pay their low-grade employees the bare minimum. After a year of working in the customer service department, I applied for a job in the compliance department. It was more of an administrative assistant position but the job involved proof reading advertisements and coordinating the production process of the advertisement pieces. I enjoyed this job very much. At the time, it seemed there was room for advancement. After working in the position

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Version 5 for two years, I was informed that my position would be dissolved. I found myself scrambling to find another job within the company. For a while, the situation appeared to be hopeless but at the eleventh hour, a forms specialist position opened up. I thought this position would be the perfect job to set me on my course of getting some experience as a technical writer or editor. Because my current position was ending, I was immediately interviewed for the position and was made a job offer. I felt that I had won the lottery. However, I quickly discovered that my job duties included changing the font type on policy and certificate pages, loading those policy and certificate pages into a mainframe system, and preparing electronic documents for the insurance’s third-party administrators. While working in my low paying job, I begin to take post-baccalaureate classes in the Rhetoric and Writing department at UALR. In 2008, I applied for the graduate program and I was accepted. When I received that acceptance letter in the mail, I felt as if I won the lottery once again. A year and a half passed and I found myself discontented with my forms specialist position. The reason for my unhappiness was that I knew I had reached my limit of achieving my desired career goal at the insurance company. Even though the work was a little predictable and I could use my down time for homework and reading assignments for school, I was bored and ready to move on. I had hit the glass ceiling. During spring break of 2009, I found myself searching for other positions and internships on different websites. After about an hour of searching, I found an opening for a desktop publishing position. I had seen many job positions like this before, but this position didn’t require very much experience. My previous work experience, bachelor’s degree, and enrollment as a Professional and Technical Writing graduate student made me qualified for the position. After a couple glasses of wine, I applied for the job. Truthfully, I expected another rejection email. However, to my surprise, I received a phone call from a recruiter of the company. She asked me a few questions about my knowledge of different software applications and my experience from previous jobs. The recruiter informed me that she would pass the information she had gathered from me to the hiring manager. Once again, I didn’t expect to hear from her again. A week later, my cell phone ranged. It was the recruiter calling to inform me that the hiring manager wanted to do a phone interview. I was given a tele-conference number and the date and time to call the conference line. During my panel phone interview, I was drilled repeatedly about my software

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Version 5 and work experience. They asked me how I handle job stress, and how I balanced my personal and work life.. I felt like I was being interrogated. When the interview was over, I was relieved and wiped the sweat from my forehead. The interview wasn’t a bad one, just intense. I assumed that the panel would move on to more experience candidates and that another individual would be chosen for the position. I was just grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed. Another week came and went, my cell phone ranged once again. It was the job recruiter again. I started to get the feeling of being stalked because I had never gotten this far when it came to applying for a desktop publishing job. The recruiter informed me that a face-to-face interview was scheduled for the following week. She provided me with directions and instructions upon my arrival to the job site. I must admit, I wanted to stop this process because I couldn’t get over the fact that I was chosen for a face-toface interview. However, I went ahead and did the interview in person; thinking that once it was over, the hiring manager would move on to another candidate. I had slacked on checking my personal email for an entire week. However, Friday night was the night I logged into the internet and listen to my Yahoo radio station. This was the highlight of my Friday nights, especially with my mom being out of town. I had planned to jam and rock hard to my favorite music. Of course, first things first, I had to check my email. I saw an email from the job recruiter I had been communicating with for the past two weeks. I assumed it was a rejection email but decided to read it and get the disappointment out of the way. I began to read the email and I was immediately taken a back. It was not a rejection email. It was an offer of employment. My heart began to race a little but I continued reading the email. The email contained documents I needed to fill out by a certain date to confirm my acceptance of the position. Reading a little further, I saw which holidays the company observed, the health benefits, vacation days, and a host of other information. What really caught my eye was the salary. For a moment, I thought I had something in my eye. Then, I thought there was a spot on my computer screen so I began to wipe the screen but the dollar amount was still there. I immediately got up from my computer and went outside for a cigarette to think about the opportunity that was before me. By the time I had finished my cigarette, I had made a decision to accept the job. I went back to my computer to download all the necessary forms and began to fill them out. Once I was finished filling out

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Version 5 all the forms, I emailed them to the job recruiter. I received an email that following Monday informing me the day and the time I was to start my new job. Two weeks later, I found myself working my last day at the insurance company, having lunch with soon to be former co-workers, and saying my final goodbyes. As heartbreaking as this was, I had to follow the urge to keep going the distance.

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WORKS CITED Cake. “The Distance.” Fashion Nugget. Capricorn Records, 1996. Workforce Central Florida. “Understanding Four Generations in the Workplace.” 12, October 2013, 21:15

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