SusanIsk.com

When I was in sixth grade, five girls in my class signed up for National History Day. In this competition, students could work alone or in groups to produce a project (either a play, a documentary, a poster or a paper) on a designated topic (with, of course, an annotated bibliography). I guess I wasn’t “cool” enough to be included in the original five, but when one of them had to drop out, I was “invited” to join. We wrote a five minute play about the female suffragettes (one of us, a white girl, portrayed the black Sojourner Truth). I played Lucretia Mott. We came in third place in St. Louis and were invited to the state competition (only the top three were) in Columbia where our journey ended (only the top two in Missouri would go to the national championship). I loved the feeling of winning in St. Louis, I loved being able to share a hotel room with friends for the night, I loved being able to brag about winning something.

The next year, I decided to make a documentary. I knew someone who owned an editing studio in St. Louis and for a reduced rate, she provided me with an editor to teach me everything I needed to know. I spent all of my non-school hours in the studio working on my documentary. It had a long and pretentious name: “Wonder Workers: A Tribute to the Chinese Immigrants Who Helped to Build the Transcontinental Railroad.” I used the soundtrack from Ken Burns’ Civil War project. I took my film to the local History Day competition and won first place. I came in fourth in the state competition and did not advance to the nationals in Washington. Not to toot my own horn but the film was so well done, I ended up entering it in a film contest at my high school in my junior year. It was embarrassing listening to my 12 year old voice narrating the film, but I walked away with second place, a director’s chair and $200. Not so shabby for a film made five years prior.

My final History Day film, in the eighth grade, was about the innovation of prosthetic limbs in America. When I discussed a very modern human-like prosthetic hand, I featured the Jewel song,”Hands” in the background (”my hands are strong I know, but they aren’t yours, they are my own”). I won $100 for the best use of music and got a huge laugh out of it. I came in second place in the local contest and did not even place in the state competition; but by then, it didn’t matter, I was hooked. Dawson’s Creek had been on for a few years and Dawson wanted to be a filmmaker so I did everything to emanate him. I thought that I had written the next Chariots of Fire with my untitled project about a paraplegic former high school lacrosse player. My obsession with becoming the next big thing eventually ended … but I may just have to put Wonder Workers on YouTube so that it may live on forever.

Next time … News producer.

When I was in fifth grade, my teacher saw that I was “advanced” in some areas. Instead of spending my entire day in the regular classroom, I was able to spend part of the time in a small group setting where the students were able to delve into research projects that specifically interested them. Having just gone on a caribbean cruise with my family, I was obsessed with dolphins, and so I decided that I wanted my first research project on what it takes to become an aquatic animal trainer. For the next five months, I conducted interviews, read numerous books and watched way too much travel television for my 10 year old mind. In the end, I liked what I’d learned so much that I decided I’d definitely study marine biology in college and become an aquatic animal trainer (I’d eventually end up majoring in political science).

The poster board of my presentation still sits in my dad’s office.

Next time … Filmmaker.

Bulleted Year in Review

Here’s an overview of some of SusanIsk’s personal highlights (and lowlights) in 2007. The year was fairly productive. I went to Europe twice. I graduated from college. I started my first job. Although, as you’ll notice, my life significantly calmed down with the job. My one resolution for next year is to have a unique highlight for each month of the year — whether it be travel, personal , I vow to have more adventures in 2008.

January
??? Rang in the New Year in Michigan.
??? Traveled to Chicago for corporate job interviews.

February
??? Took my terribly pretentious 6 hour political science exam required for graduation.

March
??? Traveled to France and Ireland.

April
??? Went to Chicago to memorialize a friend.
??? Traveled to St. Louis where I interviewed at the place where I now work.

May
??? Graduated from college.
??? Visited Michigan.
??? Bought my first car (now aptly named “Death Cab (for Cutie).”

June
??? Moved back to St. Louis.
??? Became single.
??? Started working as an Intern at my place of work.

July
??? Hired as an Account Coordinator at my place of work.

August
??? Began my position as Account Coordinator.
??? Nick visited.

September and October
??? Watched lots of Mizzou football … and that’s about it.

November
??? Modest Mouse concert.
??? Visited The Netherlands.

December
??? Traveled to Jamaica (update coming soon, as soon as I can breathe again).
??? Very sick at the beginning of the month and now again at the end of the month. I will not be kissing anyone to ring in this new year.

The third false alarm in as many weeks:

I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again: I have one of the greatest first jobs a girl could have. Supportive coworkers (including, but not limited to (including, but not limited to her, her, her and her) who provide continuous suggestions for growth (as much as we all hate feedback, usually our success depends in part on the input of others), an awesome variety of projects, and let’s not forget an unlimited “free” supply of soda, coffee and water. That said, the first job still the most difficult job I think you or l will ever have, and here’s why:

You’re expected to know how to think/act/react/dress in any situation. When working along side seasoned pros, of course you’re going to look incredibly inexperienced (because you are). But why is this such a bad thing? It’s like when you talk with someone about your favorite hobby and they’ve never heard of it: it shocks you that they don’t know about something that you know everything about. It’s just a matter of exposure and time.

Anything that deviates from traditional expectations will be pinned on your age. You make a typo/leave out a comma because of an urgent deadline and it’s viewed as a deficiency that can be worked on; even though sometimes a forgotten punctuation mark is just a punctuation mark (I’m not saying that it’s o.k., just that sometimes that’s all it is). You feel like you’re playing dress up every time you wear a suit (and even though you’ve been of legal voting age for many years now, you’ll be reminded of how “grown up” you look while wearing one).

I was talking with one of my bosses the other day and we were discussing how in business, most projects are collaborative. I told her that in college, I had to do everything possible to set myself apart from my peers to get the grade. I had to be more eager, contradict (under the guise of debate) my peers and question everything. If you do this in the workplace, you just look like an a-s-s. Going from the rigors of an academic environment to the collaborative project-based environment of the business world is a great shift in thinking and does take some time.

So what do you do to make the first job easier?
You suck it up and deal. They say, “jump.” You say, “how high?” You take (most of) the feedback to heart. It might seem like you’re losing a sense of who you are by keeping aspects of your personality out of the workplace, but that’s business.

I’m Susan. I graduated from college six months ago and I’m stuck between being a kid and a career woman. I just wish that I could be both. Until I become the latter, I’m going to “suck it up and deal.”