That working life...

As my first week at work comes to an end, I realize that I have no idea what the rest of this co-op will look like. Physically, it looks like this:

The acclaimed "door desk"

But regarding day-to-day workflow for the remaining 6 months, I have no idea. This week was kind of slow, much slower than my first week at Wayfair. I've done a lot of new hire stuff (like setting up direct deposit, adding printers to my laptop, reading about the culture) in the free time that I have. The one main work thing I started was analyzing social media buzz following major events at AWS. I like that a lot because it's totally different from what I've done before. My main goal for co-op is for each one to be unique, so that when I graduate I'll have a pretty good idea of what I want out of my full-time job and what I don't want. So far, so good on that front.

My manager is super nice, although sometimes scatterbrained and awkward. Like sometimes he'll come say hi to me and leave. Literally just "hi." He also outlined 6 huge projects he wants me to tackle by the time I leave, but they're vague and I have no idea where to get started. I have to learn 3 new programs (probably more) that are intricate and elaborate. I've never heard of them before so I'm literally starting from ground zero. I learned one that makes the graphs I use to analyze social media and it's not too bad. This leads me to be pretty hopeful about the other ones I have to learn.

My desk is in what I call a "nook." It's not an office. It's not a bullpen. It's not a cubicle. It's just a little part of a room that is sectioned off. It just has 2 desks and 2 chairs in it. I share my nook with a full-time employee, but he hasn't been here all week so I don't know what he's like. But we'll probably be best friends by the end of this since we work so close.

The main thing I notice is how quiet the office is. It is totally possible for me to sit in my nook and literally not see or talk to anyone all day. And I hate that. This is the ABSOLUTE POLAR OPPOSITE from last year when I worked in a huge room with no walls and the desks were set up in rows. I was basically talking all day, which I loved, and there was never a dull moment. To keep myself alive during this loneliness, I put up my favorite pictures from the past few months. It also makes it less painful that I'm on the opposite side of the universe from Boston right now.

It looks better in person, I promise. 

It's really hard to judge a job from the first week, but I like it so far. We shall see!

I know this post was pretty boring, but work is boring right now. So when something exciting happens, I will be sure to keep you posted.

A couple other co-ops and I are about to leave to go to a cupcake place on Capitol Hill that we've been talking about all day. So excited. Nommmmmm!