4 Day Recap

I'm getting behind on my blogging!! Here's an update on the last four days...

Friday:  I had my second day at my internship and it didn't go very well.  I finished up the project I had started on Thursday.  When I completed it at 11 AM I told my supervisor I was finished with it and he said he would have someone check it over. And then I spent the rest of the day sitting at my desk.  Seriously.  I wasn't given ANYTHING to do.  So I browsed Morningstar and Yahoo Finance to pass the time.  Let me tell you, it was one of the longest days of my life.

Friday Night:  After work I rushed home--not that you can really "rush" when you take the bus.  I changed into some less "business-y" and took the Red Line on the el up to the Bryn Mawr stop where a friend of mine from Jr High/High School picked me up.  Her and her husband host a small group Bible study and supper at their apartment every Friday night.  It was really nice to meet some new people and spend some time discussing God's word.  I got on the el at about 10:15 PM to head home...on a Friday night...on the "sketchy" line.  It was interesting, to say the least.

Saturday: Slept in til 9 and it felt GREAT!  I read a book for awhile and spent some time talking with Karla.  After lunch, Sherry, Megan, Karla, Julianna (another NWC girl) and I all went to Target.  It was HUGE.  It had an escalator to the 2nd floor with a special little "ramp" so you could take your cart up and down with you.  We also stopped at Jewel (the grocery store) to grab a few things and then headed back to our apartment. Some other Chicago Semester girls called us and invited us to go out to supper with them at a little Italian restaurant called La Scarola.  We got semi-lost/confused on the way there but thankfully a really nice lady helped us out.  We made it to the restaurant JUST in time--we almost missed our reservation!!  Karla and I split an entree and it was SO good!

Out for supper!

Sunday:  We (Sherry, Megan, Karla, and I) made the 45 minute journey up to Wrigleyville and went to a new church called Missio Dei.  Betsy went to this church when she was here for Chicago Semester and she recommend that we check it out.  The congregation was almost all college-aged kids.  There were a few older couples but not many.  Worship was amazing!!  It was really loud--the kind where you can sing at the top of your lungs and still not hear yourself.  But I loved it.  It just seemed...real.  Like people actually meant the things they were singing.  Next there was a 5 minute "get to know each other" time.  I talked to a guy from California that's going to Northwestern here in Chicago. When I told him about where I was from he said "I know this probably isn't right but...I'm picturing saloons..."  I had a really hard time not laughing at him :)  I told him that the town closet to me has a post office and one business and he just couldn't even fathom it.  I always knew people thought of South Dakota as the middle of nowhere but this just confirmed it.  The actual church service wasn't like their typical services.  They were doing 5 baptisms that day so instead of a normal sermon we just talked about the meaning and importance of baptism.  We then watched 5 people get baptized and finished the church service with some more amazing worship.  I spent the rest of the day reading for class and doing laundry.

Monday:  Back to work.  I started the day with another hour of nothing to do.  At 9:30 I sat in on a conference call and then a meeting.  Then from 11 til 12:20ish I did, you guessed it, NOTHING.  I decided to  take my hour lunch then and spent some time reading a book and trying not to think about how upset I was about this entire internship experience.  I was more than frustrated.  After lunch, though, I finally got some work.  We send out little flip books to our clients every quarter so I had to update documents and organize them all in order to get them ready for printing.  Brian, another coworker, had a project for me too.  They send out a newsletter to all their clients periodically and in this newsletter they are going to be telling their clients which stocks they recommend removing from their portfolios and which ones they recommend adding. But they have to justify their recommendation for adding them so I was given the task of doing a little research on each of the stocks and doing a short write up for each of them.  I didn't really know what I was doing and was really nervous to show Brian what I had come up with but thankfully he said that what I had done was exactly what he was looking for!  After work, since it was SO nice outside (50 degrees!), I decided to walk the 2 miles back to my apartment.  It was a WONDERFUL way to wind down the work day and help me relax after a mildly frustrating day.  I wish it was this nice EVERY day so that I could always walk home!  I spent the rest of this evening doing some more reading for class on Wednesday...yay.

One Foot in the 'Real World'

I was expecting this semester to be mainly focused on my internship but after having my first day of classes yesterday, I'm a little overwhelmed.  I'm taking an Arts in the City class which should be pretty fun except for the paper writing I have to do...and the "creating your own masterpiece" final.  I'm also taking Diversity & Inequality.  This one is going to require a lot of reading and some paper writing too.  We are also required to be in a Practicum Group.  From what I understand, it's basically a small group of students (I think there are 8 in my group) that meet for an hour and a half each week to talk about our experiences--class, internship, city living, etc.  I have to do a weekly journal/paper for this.  All in all, I have right around 30 "papers" to write before the end of April. Plus all the reading I'm also required to do.  I think I'm going to be glad classes are only once a week!!!  I feel like I have one foot in the 'real world' with my internship starting but I'm also still stuck in the 'school world' too...not my favorite feeling.

My internship started today.  If you know me, you know I like to be early.  I HATE being late.  My supervisor said that work starts at 8:30.  My Practicum Group Leader told us to be there 10 or 15 minutes early.  And I, of course, didn't want to be "late" by showing up 10 minutes early so I made sure I had PLENTY of time to get there.   ...I showed up 25 minutes early.  Overachiever? ...I guess so.  I got out of the elevators on the 37th floor and all the lights in the office were turned off and the doors were locked.  So there I stood, the new intern, pacing around the elevators waiting for someone to show up to let me in on my first day of work.  My supervisor showed up a few minutes later saving me from embarrassing myself in front of all my new coworkers.

My first project for the day was inputting data into an Excel spreadsheet...rather mundane and tedious.  A group of the guys and my supervisor took me out for lunch for my first day of work.  It was interesting and definitely showed me that I'm not in South Dakota or Iowa anymore!  After an hour lunch break with them I'm finally starting to be able to tell when they are joking and when they're not...but not always.  After lunch I started working on another project.  This time I was basically checking data between two documents and making changes as needed.  I was asked to sit in on a conference call with Morningstar for about an hour and a half while the guys asked questions about a new program they are considering purchasing.  I sat there with a blank stare on my face for most of it and looked out the window.  I was still listening!! I just didn't know what they were talking about so an hour and a half of that got a little old.  I left at 5 and took a bus home.  I had a mild panic attack when I realized the display on the bus that tells you which stop is next, was broken...and I had no idea where I was.  Thankfully I was sitting next to a very nice lady who helped me out.  She happened to be getting off at the same stop that I was looking for so she told me to just 'follow her lead' :)

Megan, Karla, Sherry, and I are going to end the evening with a movie and hopefully get to sleep semi-early.  Another big day tomorrow!

Officially an Intern!

This morning I met with a Chicago Semester staff person to make my final decision about my internship.  She started off by having me tell her what I did and didn't like about the two sites I interviewed at.  She then told me that BMO Harris (my 2nd choice) was very interested in having me as an intern and she told me all the positive feedback they had said about me--this was definitely a self-esteem booster!  Next came the part I was nervous for.  She said that since two different Chicago Semester students had interviewed at MainStreet Advisors (my 1st choice), they had asked MSA which student was their first choice.  Turns out, they liked me! I was their first choice for an intern.  Once I was given the "go ahead" I had to make my acceptance and rejection phone calls...not my favorite thing to do!  Both calls went well though and I am now officially an intern at MainStreet Advisors!

Moving In

Yesterday was move in day.  We checked out of the hotel and then carried our backpacks, purses, and 40 lb suitcases 4 blocks (1/2 mile) to the el.  After a short ride on the el we had another 2 block walk to our apartments.  We went to our respective apartments and began rearranging our furniture and unloading our suitcases.  We made a trip to the grocery store (also 2 blocks away) and stocked up on some necessities.  Megan's parents got here in the early afternoon and we brought the rest of our stuff up.  We spent the rest of the day unpacking and setting up our rooms just how we wanted them.  Karla's and my room is on the north side of the building and our room stays really warm.  Megan and Sherry's room, on the other hand, is on the south side of the building and they have QUITE the draft.  It's like they have the AC on at the same time as the heat.

Megan's parents have a hotel 1 block from our apartment so we're all hanging out in there room right now so that we can use their internet.  The internet guy is hopefully coming to our apartment on Monday.

Well, here are some pictures of our room!

Free Day!

 Sherry started her student teaching today and Megan had an interview at 10 AM so Karla and I decided the smartest thing to do was to sleep in! I think we made the right choice :)  Once Megan got back from her interview, Karla, Megan and I went exploring.  We had lunch at the Corner Bakery--I think that's the third time I've eaten there now...I need to branch out a bit.  After lunch we walked to the Art Institute where we were able to get in FREE because we are now officially Chicago RESIDENTS!!!  We spent some time looking around but not nearly as much as I would have liked.  I think I'll be spending many more hours there.  We walked through Millenium Park did the typical tourist thing and took pictures at The Bean.

After The Bean we were thoroughly frozen so we went across the street for some Starbucks coffee (hot chocolate for Karla) and a chance to warm up.

We didn't want to walk all the way back to the hotel in cold (even though it was only 5 or 6 blocks away) so we waited for a bus in cold instead.  I think we probably could have made it back to the hotel in the amount of time that we ended up waiting for the bus but I think it made us all the more thankful to be on the nice warm bus once we finally got there.  At the hotel we each packed up one of our suitcases to take to our new apartments.  Move-in day isn't until tomorrow but we were told we could bring luggage to the apartment anytime we wanted.  We figured it would be easier to take one at a time on the el rather than trying to take two suitcases, a purse, and a backpack all at the same time.  Megan and Sherry have suitcases with wheels and a handle so they got to pull there's but, lucky me, I had to carry mine!  I was exhausted by the time we finally made it to the apartment.  I'm glad I only had to take one suitcase!  We brought up our luggage and spent some time talking about possible arrangements for our furniture. Here's a picture of our apartment building.  I'll post some of our apartment once we get moved in and settled.

                                            

Chicago Semester had a catered Mexican supper for us tonight and had a few final announcements to make since this was the last time we would all be in the same room together until the final "Goodbye Party" at the end of the semester.  

Now I'm back at the hotel relaxing and winding down the day. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but we have been staying in a really nice hotel, Hotel Allegro.  

Well, that's all for today. I'll hopefully be posting apartment pictures tomorrow!!

Decisions, Decisions!

Interview Day!

Megan and I met at the Corner Bakery to get some breakfast and to do some last minute practicing for our 10 AM interviews. It helped to calm my nerves a bit.  I then started my trek to my first interview at BMO Harris Bank.  It wasn't terribly far...maybe 4 or 5 blocks.  I was FREEZING by the time I got there though and had some pretty nice blisters thanks to wearing heels!  I also got a little lost...went about a block and a half out of my way and had a mild panic attack because I thought I was going to be late.  In the end, of course, I was just fine and still showed up 10 minutes early, as instructed.  I was taken up to the 24th floor.  One of my interviewers showed me around the floor and briefly explained what each team did. We then met in a small office with another guy and started my interview.  They asked all the standard questions plus about a million other ones. Once they finished drilling me they proceeded to tell me all the reasons that I should intern with them instead of other places in Chicago.      Going into this interview I had a negative attitude about it, but afterwards I actually kind of liked it. 

My second interview was at MainStreet Advisors.  I LOVED the atmosphere there.  I felt like people were really friendly and the general appearance of the office was more aesthetically pleasing.  I first interviewed with 2 younger guys who briefly told me about the company and asked just a couple questions.  They then sent in my supervisors who was slightly more formal about the interview process but not much.  He told me a little more about the company and gave me a very general idea about what my internship would entail.  

Now that both my interviews are done I have to start weighing the pros and cons of each and decide which one I want to spend the next 3.5 months interning at.  At this point I'm completely torn between the two.  I think I'll need to do a little more research on the two companies and do a lot of praying.  I meet with a Chicago Semester staff member on Monday to discuss my two possible internship sites and they will help me make a final decision.  

Later in the afternoon Karla, my roommate, and I had an appointment at our apartment to choose which floor/room we will be living in and we signed our lease and wrote our first rent checks!  Man, Chicago is EXPENSIVE!  We will be living in a little studio apartment on the 5th floor with the view of a roof and the windows of another building...pretty exciting stuff!  

This evening was a pizza party at the Chicago Semester offices.  We had Giordano's pizza--the deep dish Chicago style pizza.  It was alright...I think it would have been better if it had been hot instead of lukewarm :)  

Tomorrow is a free day for me.  Some people still have interviews tomorrow--I was one of the lucky ones who had them both today and got them over with!!  Since I'm done I get to spend the day doing whatever my little heart desires!  Karla, Megan, and I will probably explore the city a little.

Uptown Girl...at least I almost was

Lectures, lectures, and more lectures filled most of the morning.  We got tips on interviewing, how to get around the city, and were told a little more about possible housing options.  For lunch we were broken into small groups and sent out on our own to find food.  The Chicago Semester staff had given us a list of cheaper restaurants in the surrounding areas but we decided to just venture out and see if we could find something on our own.  After walking about 2 blocks we decided it was too cold so we just picked one from the list and went there.  Thankfully it was only a block away and as soon as we saw the name, we knew we had chosen the right place to get away from the cold. Cosi!  And cozy it was!  It was nice and warm inside and it gave us a chance to warm up a bit before heading back out into the snow.  It was a soup/sandwich place and I actually really enjoyed it.

After lunch was the housing lottery. This was the big part of the day that I was most nervous for.  Megan, Karla, Sherry and I were really hoping to get into the Wheaton apartments farther north in Uptown (this the title of this blog) for several reasons: rent is cheaper, it's bigger, it's fully furnished (including kitchen stuff), internet is free, there's a washer and dryer in the unit and it's included in rent, and a few other reason.  But, I guess God had other plans for us.  The 3 available 6-person apartments filled up so we ended up breaking into twos.  Karla and I will now be living in a studio apartment together in Gold Coast.  Move in day is on Friday!!!

I had a practice interview this afternoon with a Chicago Semester staff member and they gave me pointers on things to fix before my interviews tomorrow.  It was pretty helpful and it also made me a little less nervous for tomorrow.  We also had a little time this afternoon to do some research on our possible internship sites.

For supper we were, once again, broken into small groups.  This time we were given the name and address of a restaurant and we had to lead a staff member to the restaurant without their help.  If we made it there successfully they would pay for our meal! My group ate at a little Mexican restaurant called Nuevo Leon.

The rest of the evening was free time and I decided to just spend some time alone in order to relax and hopefully get some sleep!

My interviews tomorrow are at 10 AM and 2 PM. If you have time, say a quick prayer for me! I'd really appreciate it! Tomorrow afternoon Karla and I will go tour our apartment and sign the lease papers.  Other than that, the day is open for us to explore the city!!

So It Begins!

Well today has been an interesting day.  Up at 5:45 AM--a time of day with which I hope to not get too familiar!--on the road to the airport at 7, into Chicago by 12:15, and to the hotel by 2.  Everything went surprisingly well. All of our luggage showed up at the airport and we were all very thankful! We bought tickets to take the L to the hotel because $2.25/person sounded MUCH better than $15/person :)  Thankfully the L wasn't  busy so we had no trouble getting on and off when we needed to.  I'm thinking that might be a whole different story when we move from the hotel into our apartments!  I will admit that getting from the airport, to the L, to the hotel was mildly stressful when there were four of us that each had slightly different ideas about how to do things.  Luckily, I really like these girls, so we worked through it and managed not to kill each other :D
Once at the hotel Karla and Sherry were able to check into their rooms. Megan and I, on the other hand, were told there was a problem or something with our rooms so we wouldn't be able to check in til a little after 3.  Well, orientation started at 3...so we (Megan and I) kept our bags in Karla's room and in Sherry's room til we were able to check in. We did orientation stuff like getting to know people/staff and talked about policies/procedures until 5:30 and then headed out for supper.  We were broken into groups of seven and had a leader who took us to a restaurant.  As my group left the restaurant my leader asked if any of us at taken the L before; I told him I had taken in from the airport to the hotel this morning. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be in charge on the way back to the hotel then because he wouldn't be taking us back!  He wasn't joking!  He seriously walked us back to the L and said goodnight!  But we all got back safe and sound :)   Quite honestly, I think it was a good thing he did that.  It made me a little more confident about my abilities to navigate this city!!  After supper we had more orientation and found out where we will be interviewing.  I have an interview at BMO Harris Bank and at MainStreet Advisors.  I then have until Monday to make a final decision as to which site I would prefer to intern at.
The most important thing on the agenda tomorrow is HOUSING.  We are really really REALLY hoping to get into one of the 6-person apartments!  The housing lottery is 1:30-2:30 tomorrow and we are praying that one of our names is drawn first!!  We found two other great girls that want to live with us so we are really hoping it works out!
Well, I need to do a bit of reading and then some interview preparation--I have practice interviews tomorrow--so I think I'll call it a night.  One day down, 102 to go!  I think this is going to be great semester!

The Start of Something New

The "official" countdown on my computer says I have 4 days, 15 hours, and 6 minutes until I plan to leave my house and head off on this new adventure!  As of today I have bought most of the things I will need...at least I think so.  If I ever actually get around to packing I'm sure I'll think of plenty more that I still need to buy!
Up until last week, whenever someone would ask if I was excited for Chicago my answer was unfailingly "No".  That's starting to change though!  For about the past week I have been getting a little more excited every day.  I am, of course, still incredibly nervous about various things but I know that overall, this is going to be one amazing semester.  I get to spend 3.5 months in Chicago with the 3 best roommates I could have ever asked for...plus a bunch of other Chicago Semesterers!  I know that no matter what happens, God has got some big plans in store for me.  This will definitely be a growing experience for me...and I'm ready!