Wrapping up my leadership program and being thankful

On Monday, I wrapped up my final installment of my leadership program. It has been a great learning experience.

I love to learn. It was fun participating, which I wouldn't have said when I was an undergraduate student, as I didn't enjoy speaking in front of folks. It helps to contribute, as I ended up getting off the hook when it came down to doing some of the exercises. Yay!

I spent some time writing an e-mail to my instructor, saying thanks for being supportive, encouraging, and insightful. Most people don't think of taking a moment to thank someone, but I feel obligated to. I am sad that these sessions have ended, but feel empowered with knowledge and tools to make me a better leader.

My manager will be attending this course early next month. It will be interesting to see whether any of these techniques resonate with him.

Encouragement to seek a side job

My guy and I are supportive of each other. When we first started dating, my guy would often suggest things that I could do to earn extra income on the side.

It's funny, but I don't have that business-money sense like he does. He teaches a course on the side. This semester, my guy doesn't have a course to teach.

He has often encouraged me to teach a night or weekend course, like he does here and there. He also suggested that I do tutoring or provide editing services on student papers.

I decided to do something different. I asked him whether I should earn a bit of money by becoming an Uber driver.

"That's a great idea," he said. "You know your way around the city, you're personable, and you like to drive."
"I'm thinking that it would be a great fit. I could drive on the weekend and earn a bit of cash," I replied.
"For sure. You'd be a great driver."

The good news is that I have been approved. I simply need to register for a business number.

G is for George and God #AtoZchallenge

Just before Christmas, my manager made a comment while a number of us were working that the software development manager (my guy has nicknamed him Sharky, for he seems to be attracted to me and circles around my desk) looks like George Clooney. My manager went on and on about him.

I decided to tease my manager about it, by saying that Sharky was his man-crush and boyfriend. I did it again yesterday when my manager looked at a prospective candidate's photo on LinkedIn, and decided to paint a picture of how tall he is, how much he weighs, and more. He even told me that he is hairy.

"Are you developing another man-crush? First it was George over there, and now it's this new hairy fellow?" I teased.
"Okay, stop," he said.
"Stop what? It's all true!"

My pointing out his boyfriends makes my manager immediately stop talking about them. It's good.

The other day, I decided to look for some freelancing work that I can do on the side. I decided to try one out where you write short articles.

I first got a written interview through e-mail. It consisted of answering a set of questions in a Word document. It was about my education, my degrees, what I do for a living, and a few other areas. Based on my answers, if they were satisfactory, I'd go on to the next stage.

Sure enough, I made it. The next phase was a test assignment. This work consisted of reading a given article, and arguing for or against what the author was conveying.

The topic? Religion. Yes, it was about God. The article was philosophical.

First, I studied a number of philosophers in my last year of high school. I did not enjoy it. Second, I am not a heavily religious person. So, I felt that I was doomed trying to write a three-page test assignment.

However, I am a pretty logical person. I am good at stating my case and backing it up with examples. I did exactly that.

The assignment is due on Friday night. I sent it off on Thursday night. It has references and a bibliography, too.

My view is that if this prospective employer passes on me, I will be okay. At least I did everything I could. It will also be this employer's loss, as I still managed to turn in a high-quality, thoughtful piece in which the topic did not do much for me. However, I gave it my best job. I'm good with that fact.

My guy has always encouraged me to take on some part-time work that involves writing, because it's what I love. He has even encouraged me to have a side business of reviewing and editing people's essays and theses. Perhaps I should try this endeavour should I not get this freelancing gig.