Full Time Job Application

Today I submitted my resume for a full time job.

A few weeks ago I was chatting with someone I worked with last summer and he mentioned that he was transferring to a different site and they would be looking for someone to replace him.  He wasn't sure if they would fill the role with an experience person or a new hire but said he would keep me in the loop if I was interested.  I said yes please.  This job is the one I want!  I was in their building visiting people a few days ago and his boss sees me ans says, "I'm waiting on your resume."  I though at first he was joking but decided to go back to the first guy and ask and it turns out that while the job hasn't been posted yet, a few resumes have come in and if I am really interested, I should submit mine within the next week or so.  I was also told that the guy leaving went to the guy hiring and recommended me as a strong candidate to replace him and the guy hiring agreed.

So for the past two days I have been frantic trying to put together my resume and cover letter and I turned it in this afternoon.  Now I wait and see if I get an interview.

Songs in my Head

Anyone that knows me knows that I always have music in my head. Usually if a song gets stuck in my head, I have to listen to it to get it out. Over the past few months, I've been waking up with worship songs in my head and even after listening to them, can't get them out of my head. I usually end up with a specific part in my head and really pay attention to those lyrics. When this happens, or the song keeps coming back, I have been posting the lyrics or song on Facebook to share with everyone.

Before I left for Peru I wasn't listening to music much. In Peru, I didn't bring my iPod so the only music I had was what was playing when I woke up in the morning, the same songs everyday. Now don't get me wrong, I love those songs and they mean even more to me now, but they just didn't get in my head like when I would listen to music on my own.

One day working in Peru, my job was cleaning the children's home. I was on my own mopping for a few hours with occasional interaction with one of my teammmates. Those few hours, I had so many songs in my head. Some were songs I hadn't heard in years and some were songs that get in my head regularly. But getting to spend that time alone with God and Him giving me those songs was absolutely amazing.
Since being back, I have been questioning some things in my life and failth. I was unsure if I am ready to take the next step. Last week, I started constantly having worship songs in my head again and over the weekend I realized that I am ready to take that step.

For me, music is when everything makes sense. The most powerful spiritual experiences I've had have been during worship. I can pray and know exactly what I want to say. I can recognize God telling me to do something. I can express how I am feeling.

Hearing

In April, I was diagnosed with Basilar Migraines.  One of the symptoms/side effects/whatever you want to call it I have is hearing issues.  Sometimes it is just a ringing in my one ear, sometimes both ears.  Sometimes it is decreased hearing in one or both ears.  Or occasionally I have lost hearing completely in one ear for a few minutes and it has returned slowly.  Also, in group environments or rooms with bad acoustics, I have a hard time hearing the conversation I am in.  I have not been able to put a pattern with getting a migraine and having these issues yet, but I do know they're related.  When the more severe episodes happen, they scare me.  I am unsure if they will get better, worse, or stay the same in the future but I am learning ways to deal with it when I do have problems.

Before all of this had started, I took ASL as a class for fun.  Some of my close friends and family know basic signs and I can have a short conversation with them.  I have used signing to communicate when I have a hard time hearing, but it is difficult because the people I am trying to communicate with don't know it well and neither do I.  I am hoping once I get settled down somewhere I can get my core group of friends and maybe even co-workers to learn enough that if I have to use it, we can communicate easily.

The other day I was telling my friend about these hearing issues and it came up that her parents are Deaf.  A few weeks ago I saw a family signing in Wal-Mart and I wanted to introduce myself but didn't feel comfortable but have decided if I see them again, I will.  Today in Church, Pastor Bryan taught us the sign for crazy because he was signing it while preaching.  At lunch I learned that two of my friends are deaf in one of their ears.  There are definitely some connections happening here that I need to pay attention to.

Summer Blogging

When life gets hectic blogging is something I tend to forget about.  However, I've started keeping a journal or sorts so I figured I'd try to combine the two.  I'm not sure if people even still read this, but there is always stuff I want to share with people and it is easier to share it via a link than remembering.

Anyway, here is a brief list of major events since January when I last posted.  I will elaborate on some later as I get a chance.

• THON 2012 raised $10.68 million.  Way more than anyone ever though we would considering the events of the preceding months.
• I visited Bethany and Steph in Texas and was able to see other friends from last summer.
• I was in the ER twice, diagnosed with migraines, and am still trying to figure everything out.
• I late dropped my first classes of college.
• My friends graduated.
• I went to Peru on a mission trip with ACF through Inca Link.g
• I have grown so much in my faith as a Christian and hope to continue to grow this summer and the rest of my life.

Now I am back in Texas doing my 4th co-op term at Dow Chemical.  This summer I'm in the plant working as a run plant but my plant is being built so there isn't really a plant to run.  My projects right now are making training modules (PowerPoints) that the operators will use to learn how the equipment works.

Winter Jam

So last night I went to Winter Jam with some friends.  Winter Jam is a Christian music tour featuring a bunch of artists for $10.  Last night we saw We As Human, For King and Country, Dara MacLean, Group 1 Crew, Building 429, Kari Jobe, Peter Furler (former lead singer of Newsboys), Sanctus Real, Skillet.  Nick Hall spoke on 1 John 1:5-7, illusionist Brock Gill performed, and Newsong hosted. 

I didn't think I was going to recognize any songs going into it, but I actually did.  When I'm doing homework and listening to music I usually have a shuffle of Country and Christian music going and I had actually begun to pick up on some of the songs I guess.

Skillet was the "big performance" of the night.  I had seen them a few years ago at the BJC with Shinedown and Puddle of Mud but didn't realize who they were.  They are more rock then I usually listen to and was not as into them in the concert because I didn't know most their songs and couldn't really understand them.  However, I'm listening to them online now and like them a lot better when I can understand them/learn the songs.

Weird Feelings

These past few days have been weird for me.  I've been in all sorts of different moods but none of them have lasted long and some of them have been completely new even for me.

Wednesday was probably one of the best days I've had this semester.  Though it was a Wednesday, it was a long day for me.  I only had a 2 hr break in the morning and didn't really have breaks for the rest of the day.  I did get my friend Steph a guest ticket to come to the PSU-Purdue game while she is in town for Homecoming weekend.  That night I had a WEP Wed meeting where most of my girls came which was exciting.  Later, when I was walking home, I saw the lights in my friend Katie's house were on so I stopped by and we ended up chatting for half an hr about life and our summers.  I left because I was waiting for a text from Em to know when we were going to go for a run.  I ended up getting a call at around 10:30 and went up to meet her.  We ran for 10 mins, took a stretch break, then ran back and sprinted the last little bit.  It was an awesome run and the temperature was great.

Thursday afternoon I was in a mood that was even weird for me.  I didn't want to listen to music.  I didn't want to watch a movie.  I didn't want to see friends.  I just ended up laying on my bed for almost an hour in silence and staring at my ceiling.  Not really sure why but it was really relaxing.  I rarely have any completely quite and still time and it was kind of relaxing.

This weekend is the first canning weekend of the semester and has some interesting stories so far.  If I get the chance I'll post them.

I have time to update my blog?

The past few weeks have gone by so fast and have been so busy.  I'll try to summarize.

Two weekends ago was my brother's wedding.  I had my trip home all planned, sold my 'bama ticket, and was ready to go.  However, mother nature had a different plan.  We (meaning PA) got 13 inches of rain between Sunday and Thursday and the 3 highways I take home were closed due to flooding or mudslides.  Awesome.  For a few hours it was up in the air if I was going to make it home at all, but we found a route that would get me home with minimal issues. It ended up taking 5 hrs to get home instead of the normal 2.5 but I did get to see some towns I would never have seen otherwise.  I also got lost a few times and my GPS had a few issues but I did make it home with about 3 hours to spare.

The wedding itself was typical Burris craziness and I wouldn't have expected anything less.  Braydon wouldn't get dressed and was screaming for his mom who was locked in the bedroom with Niki (the bride) because they were doing pictures.  Riley ripped her dress and was in a mood. No one knew the family dance we were supposed to learn.  However, we all had a blast.

Last weekend I went to visit my friend Bethany at Texas A&M.  It was so much fun and wonderful to see her again.  I got to see and participate in some "weird Aggie traditions" as I like to call them.  It was a little strange to be on a different college campus though.  So many things are similar yet different but it was cool to see everything.

Sunday night when I was flying home, I picked up a Dow recruiter at each stop.  One of the new hires was on my plane from Houston to Philly.  In Philly we ran into the person who originally talked to me about Dow.  Once we landed in SC, on of the recruiters I know fairly well was there to meet them.

This week was Fall Career Week which meant info sessions, recruiting events, and interviews.  I helped out with some Dow events where needed and finally got a Dow shirt.  I'm not sure why I was so excited for this but it was definitely long overdue.  Wednesday was the career fair and I went as someone looking for an internship as well as helped out Dow with recruiting and answering questions.  I talked to a few companies and applied to a few more online.  I ended up getting an interview with Boeing which I wasn't expecting at all since I had just talked to them for the sake of doing so.

My Boeing interview was this morning and somehow I wasn't too nervous about it.  It was in a familiar location but was 3 interviewers vs. me.  Not what I was expecting, but they liked me because I'm getting an offer to intern with them this summer.

I now have GE Energy and Boeing and am still waiting to talk to someone about going back to Dow.  I'm not sure how I feel about all of this, but I guess it's a good problem to have.