The Little Things

I am so much happier at my new job.  Do you know how much better life is when you really enjoy what you do? It's been hard to pin point exactly what it is that I like better, but day in and day out I get much more joy out of coming to work.  I hadn't paid that much attention to it, but then yesterday I got an email that made the reasons a little more clear.  When I started in my old position a year ago they wanted to put an article in the newsletter about my addition to the department.  I had worked there for about six weeks when it was time for the newsletter, and the coordinator of my department asked me to just write up a little blurb about myself.  Where I am from, my previous work experience, the normal stuff.  I didn't think it was a big deal. I mean, who knows me better than me, right?

Well, now that I am in the new position I am once again being announced in the newsletter.  I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess I would have just turned in the same blurb I wrote a year ago, but tacked on that I worked for the University in a different department for the previous year.  Turns out there was no need.  I got an email from my new coordinator yesterday saying he had taken the time to write my blurb.  Here it is:

"Sarah {undisclosed last name} began working as a Senior Laboratory Technician in the Soil Test Laboratory in {secret city} this summer.  She worked for a year in our Division in the Feed and Fertilizer preparation lab prior to her transfer.  Before coming to Regulatory Services, she worked as a Biology Analyst with {Old lab where I worked before UK}.  At {Old Lab}, she gained experience with various laboratory testing methods along with preparing audits for quality assurance and quality control.  Sarah is from {secret city} and received a B.S. degree in Biology at the University of Kentucky.  She is an avid reader and is particularly interested in Harry Potter.  She has a young family with a son and a strong knit extended family of parents, sisters and brother-in-law that provide her great support.  Continued study to achieve a graduate degree is a goal of Sarah’s as she takes evening classes working toward a degree in Environmental Health Sciences.  The Soil Laboratory is fortunate to have Sarah in her new role."

You know what my favorite part is?  Where he says " She is an avid reader and is particularly interested in Harry Potter. "  It actually made me laugh out loud to read it.  It is what I am known for around here I guess.  But what actually gets me is that I don't work that close with my Coordinator.  We have taken a work trip together, had a few lunches, always say "hi" or "have a nice evening" but he never sat down to say "Ok, tell me about yourself so I can write up an article about you".  I don't remember telling him I love Harry Potter, but I wear a Muggle shirt on a regular basis and he commonly sees me reading on break.  I casually mentioned that I was taking graduate classes, but I am amazed he remembered the degree I am working towards.  I didn't tell him I have a close family, but I guess I mention them a lot.  And he listens.  He remembers. And so does everyone else in our little department.  It's a little thing, and yet it's huge. It has made this new lab feel much more like home.

Funny how this little blurb has made me realize how much happier I am to be working here.  It's a little thing, but it sure is nice to feel like people listen.