Where have I been?

"The best map in the world doesn't matter if you don't know where you are... most of us, when it comes to figuring out where we're headed in life, never stop to ask the simple question "Where am I?" 1

Without delving deeply into my childhood - which I feel was unremarkable (but that may be food for thought at a later time), let me start out by telling you where i've been.

I grew up in East Setauket, NY; went through school there and finished up at Ward Melville H.S.  I think that some people thought I dropped out in my senior year because I was basically not there.  I took only the required classes, the ones needed for graduation.  I actually graduated with more credits than needed and I left the traditional classrooms of WMHS in January (graduating early) though I still walked with my class in June.  I am sure my younger self probably cared if people thought I dropped out but I know I didn't and I know I started my college career at that point.

It didn't take me long to move into a full time office role and relegate school to the part-time position it remained in for most of my adult life.  When you are young and making money, who wants to stop that and attend classes all day?  My office life began at an electronics supply company in Hauppauge. I worked alongside another, doing something insignificant that I can't even remember now.  I flirted with one of the sales guys who I thought was "the bomb" - even though he was married and I had a boyfriend!  In addition to my mystery tasks, I was the switchboard lunch coverage person.  Yuck.  Thus began my pure hatred for all things "RECEPTIONIST."  Never since then have I even considered a job that utilized the word receptionist.

I'm going to just list - literally - all of my job positions since that time:
NY Telephone - Directory Assistance Operator - 2 years?
Strathmore Bagels - self explanatory - 2 years (while doing some vocational training)
Perlson Touhy & Company CPAs - Office Admin - 6 years
Stony Brook Family Medicine - Exec. Assistant to the Chairperson - 3 years
Long Island Assoc. for AIDS Care - Events Assistant/Events Manager - 2.5 years
The Knox School - Executive Assistant to Director of Admissions - 10 months
Peconic Bay Medical Center - Human Resources Clerk (temp) - 11 months
Riverhead Charter School - Upper school Office Admin/Nutrition program - 3 yrs 10 mo
Gordon L Seaman, Inc. - Executive & Personal Assistant to owner - 2 years so far

There appears to be steps forward and then steps back into what's comfortable.  I am good at "assisting" as much as I dislike the title.  It's an easy position for me to rely upon when I don't know what to do.  When I look at all of this switching positions and companies I realize it has more to do with dissatisfaction and/or boredom than anything else.  I become uncomfortable with what I'm settling for and look at other (apparently similar) positions to spark my interest.  I've become very good at taking a multitude of tasks and performing them so efficiently that I can spend time doing varied personal tasks during the work day-like looking for a new job.

I have dream jobs in my head.  Why I consider these dream jobs I don't know but a few of them have been a proofreader for a publishing company; a partner in a personal chef business; opening a "hang out" location for kids (like a teen's only soda shoppe) with food & board games, etc.  most recently - since i'm so good at assisting - I've thought of using that knowledge (nearly 30 years) and putting myself out there as a virtual personal assistant.

I want to take "Where I've been" and utilize it to understand "Where I am."  Then, and only then, can I figure out "Where I am headed" in life.



1. excerpt from Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff; ch 1