New Job, a Week in Review

I'm so tired. What is it about starting something new that makes one exhausted?

I started my new job on Tuesday. Leading up to that day I was starting to have serious doubts about my ability to actually do the job I was hired to do. Does anyone else feel like that before starting a job? That you are going to completely fail? I had to remind myself of several things, including: that I'm a college graduate, I have three and a half years experience in my field, and I'm an intelligent person who can learn new things.

Everything was fine, once I got to work. As it always is. I spent the morning going through company standard operating procedures, then I got to work in the afternoon! The rest of the week has been me continuing on that work and basically settling in. The work is consuming, but to tell the truth, it can be a little boring. The company I work for is an e-learning website, and I've been going through the questions at the end of a computer certification course. There's nothing that makes you feel more stupid than editing something you don't understand. The thing is, you don't necessarily have to understand what you're reading in order to edit, but it's more interesting if you do. I have started picking up what certain words mean, etc., but it's not the most riveting of reads. But it's work, and it's in my field, and who knows, maybe I'll actually learn something.

At first I felt a little bit awkward. There are only four of us on the team, and it seemed strange to suddenly join such a small group of people--I wasn't quite sure how I would fit in. And then it was so quiet! It amazed me that no one took even ten minutes to have a conversation that wasn't about work. It blew my mind that someone could go eight hours, five days a week, and not ever have a conversation. My mind changed today when I had a pretty good conversation with two of my coworkers. I think I'm going to be okay. I guess I'll see in the coming weeks. It's good work, honest work, and I think I'm going to be able to do it just fine.

I just need some sleep first . . .