Self-motivation: Daina

It's always easy when you have someone else delegating work to you, but what happens when you're given almost complete creative freedom or your supervisor is out of town and trusts that you will be productive? I spent about two weeks designing an eight-page newsletter that will circulate to about 16 countries! Talk about pressure. I'm used to my simple Perspectives Loquitur pages, but eight pages of newsletter was intense. We had planning meetings to discuss the content and targeted audience, and the higher powers made plenty of suggestions, but I was ultimately depended upon to create something amazing from a few pictures, missioner reflections, some other materials, and a news article that I wrote, and keep my fingers crossed that everyone liked it. Instead of running to my boss every time I wasn't sure, I had to instead, push through, make crucial decisions and produce a quality media material...and that is how I spent my spring break!!! Then I learned that my supervisor would be away for an entire week. With no one to go to for direction in my work, the secretary and I worked together to make the most of our time. I worked on office tasks, but I also stepped back and looked at the bigger picture. I was able to get some very important, but time consuming tasks out of the way so that when my boss returned we could jump right back on track. We, as students, don't go to Cabrini to learn how to be work horses. Along with our education, we have received and practiced the ability to be creative thinkers and self-motivators. We will be the supervisors and bosses someday, and the ability to be creative and productive thinkers is and always will be imperative to our success.

The Calm Before the Storm - Jillian Milam

After months of doing the relatively same work at my internship, I started to feel a sense of familiarity and comfort with my responsibilities. It was nice - I was feeling fluent with scope of work, I could easily handle any task that came my way, the Requests for Information were slow but steady, deadlines were few and far between, things were good. Do you get the feeling that something bad is about to happen? You felt right.

What appeared to be a normal workweek for the Business Development Writers turned out to be a whirlwind of Requests for Information, Requests for Proposals, and anything else you can imagine. The phrase, “the calm before the storm” took on a whole new meaning for me.

Just as we would get one assignment out the door, three assignments would come knocking. The requests were extremely detailed and time consuming. As a team, we tackled the assignments by dividing and conquering. It just so happened that Cabrini’s Spring Break landed right in the middle of this hurricane of assignments, so I was fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough, however you want to look at it) to be there. I like to think that I played a major role in taming the storm and I am glad that I had the opportunity to be a part of the team when it mattered the most.

So what did I learn from this experience? Other than the fact forty cups of tea and lots of chocolate help get the job done? I learned that, first of all, offering up your precious Spring Break time can be well worth it when it comes to making a lasting impression on potential employers. Secondly, it feels good to get things done within given timelines, even when it seems impossible. Last but not least, I learned to stay on my toes. I learned that when familiarity and comfort sets in at work, we cannot let it affect our motivation and ability to surpass. Enjoy and embrace fluency with work, but never kick back and relax. Just when you least expect it, a surprise might be looming around the corner.