Six Years In One Place

I realized this week that I have been at my current job for 6 years as of 4/4/11.  It is hard for me to relate to that - in many ways, it seems like so much longer and in other ways, I can't believe it has been six years.

I still remember the first meeting the company had when they came to Portland - it was the day after I had accepted a job coordinating interpreters at a local University. I went to the big meeting where all the interpreters were, but I had just accepted what I thought would be the last job I would ever need...who knew that in the space of a year, I would be working for a new company in a field I hadn't even dreamed of in my life.

I remember the first day so vividly - it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced and it seemed like utter chaos.  Within a few hours, I wondered if I could go back and get my old job back. It took me some time and I realized that I was supposed to be there - it was going to be the challenge that would never stop being a challenge for me - how to maintain calm and composure in a state of constant change. As I meet other people who work for other companies in our industry, I realize that the industry has a lot of chaos and each company (as any workplace) has its own challenges.  That knowledge really helps when it gets hard or crazy because I know that at least I know our world and our special brand of challenge and I know, for the most part, how to navigate through it.

I must say that I have learned and done things I would never have thought I could, would do and I have found skills and abilities in myself that I never imagined. I miss interpreting every day, but I haven't given it up completely and I never will.  I like being challenged regularly although I could live without SOME of the challenges. It is never boring there and that keeps me on my toes. Some days I wish for a little boredom, but looking back, I know I made the right decision.