In spite of being mildly inconvenienced by classes in which I haven’t made enough connections to do group work, I have to say that my transition to New York has been unexpectedly easy. Within a month I’ve secured an apartment (with very nice roommates), learned to navigate the subway system (at least well enough), do fairly well in school, hang out regularly with friends, and procure a job. I probably shouldn’t write anything about it, really, as it’s been less than a month of starting school, etc., and I would rather not jinx it, but I must say that I am quite pleased.
The only dark spot in this scenario is my interactions with my peers. I mostly like my classes (at least as much as one can like learning about the card catalog or HTML), but when it comes to group work I am at a loss. I do not think it is because of the way I present myself in class—on the contrary I’ve gone out of my way to be pleasant and nice to everyone—but with so little class time, and for that matter, face time every week it’s difficult for one to build working relationships. This is how I found myself alone to write a 20 page research paper for my Information Technologies class. This is also why when I must peruse any number of bibliographies with a partner in my Information Services and Resources class I seem to come up short. I suspect this will improve with time, however it is rather tiresome now.
I got a job today. It’s nothing glamorous and it’s through school, but it’s enough to get me going.
Because I only have nine hours of class a week, and because that really means I only have classes twice a week, I have five days of nothing to do with myself. I’ve applied for about 10-15 jobs so far, 25 if you count the Whole Foods applications separately, but I must say that I’m not incredibly hopeful. Partially this is because I am very bad at selling myself and I usually make a pretty lousy first impression. I think I’m generally pretty likable, really, but just not right off the bat. I have to get a sense of the person I’m talking to or dealing with before I can have any sort of good conversation. I think this is true for most people, actually, but when trying to get a job, or an internship, or admission to school, it seems like a very personal defect.
Any advice about writing a cover letter? How does one straddle the line between glib and stiffly professional?
