Employee of the Quarter

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What an awkward thrill, yet guilty reflex, to receive this honor. I was extremely surprised as I walked into a room filled with a few departments, I knew something must be going on. Then when all eyes sprung to me and my boss pulled out a paper the edges of my mouth started to tick and my eyes started sprinting around the room not sure where to stop. It is always a relief to know that others see your hard work, but once they acknowledge it for me, the relief turns to guilt.

I immediately started remembering the hour and a half lunch break I took last week, and that mistake I made on a recent project, and the times I’ve checked my Facebook during work hours. All my mistakes and moments of slacking come to the surface as I try to fight through the muck as my boss is validating and complimenting the ways I have contributed to the team.

Team…yes team, so many people on our team, is management sure I deserve this achievement more than anyone else? Will anyone become resentful? Does anyone think I don’t deserve it? How can I thank everyone for giving this to me?

Don’t get me wrong I love compliments, but I am hard on myself so if you give me a compliment I take that as a challenge. Now not only do I have to live up to that compliment, I have to do BETTER than the compliment you just gave me…

And now since I’m parked right in the front I feel obligated to come to work a little early, stay a little later, and make sure I’m living up to the praises others said I contributed. The pressure is now greater, that I place on myself, even though the thanks was for my hard work, I feel as if I need to work harder.

As I keep striving to be the best person I can be, in that process I let myself down continuously. I also reward myself, guilt myself, confuse myself, and doubt myself. Thank you SLD employees for your shown appreciation to all of my successes and failures, I take the achievement humbly, and am loving the reserved parking spot so close to the entrance during these cold temperatures!

Hailey Schultz

What Mike Wazowski will teach you about your career path

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Mike Wazowski in Monsters University

Photo snatched from: (http://weheartit.com/entry/65770931)

 

If you have seen Monsters Inc, I’m sure you are one of the millions that fell in love with the little one-eyed green creature named Mike Wazowski. Awesome movie, everyone should watch it if you haven’t already…then came Monsters University. I am always leery to watch sequels/prequels, but occasionally I give in to the temptation as I did with Monsters University. Although the film wasn’t up to “Despicable Me’s” impressive animation, I still give it a thumbs up for the underlying message that comes across.

Quick summary for Monsters University: Mike Wazowski dreamed about becoming a scare monster since he was in elementary school. He was a leader & studied harder than anyone else, his blood, sweat, and tears ozed with an appetite to scare... But in the end Mike was not the right fit for a scare monster, he just wasn’t scary. Although it had been Mike’s life-long dream he was able to courageously step down. He realized alone he couldn’t live his childhood dream, but with Sully and himself working together, they were an unstoppable force.

If this were real life I would scoop up Mike and promote him as a CEO! When someone realizes his or her dream has changed, that is something to be admired. Your dreams can change, and likely should! The more you learn about yourself, the more you should evaluate your future goals. One of the first hits I took in my life was giving up architecture. I realized after 7 devout years my dream wasn’t to be an architect anymore, and that was a tough thing to say out loud. After investing so much time, money, and effort into a dream it can be disheartening to reassess.

Are you the part? Or are you forcing it?

Mentally and physically there are blockades in the road. Sometimes they are worth tearing down, sometimes it is best to find another route. Personally I related to Mike on the physical level. Obviously I’m not a little green monster, but physically I have every indication for the stereotypical uncultured, spoiled, young ditzy professional that you might catch yourself rolling your eyes at. I will be the first to admit I have a young vocabulary, I have a tremendous amount of growing to do, I look 20, my voice sounds like an 8 year olds, and at this point if you are an older male it is fairly easy to intimidate me if you try. But you shouldn’t take your eyes off me because this façade is hiding a sponge beneath it. I know my limitations right now, but once I find my Sully, I’ll be something to compete with.

Go find your Sully, whether it be the perfect job, the perfect boss, a degree, or even a new found confidence in yourself. I’ll let you know what mine is when I find it, best of luck!

Hailey Schultz

If you procrastinate, you will get stuck in an elevator and miss your deadline.

My first Chicago apartment was....a great experience that taught me street smarts & peeled off a layer of culture shock I once had. I also learned that you should never, ever procrastinate, because you might get stuck in an elevator and miss your deadline.

My mom dropped me off May 2008 in the Chicago neighborhood Goldcoast. With the richest zip code in Chicago I thought it would be the safest and most luxurious. The hallways were covered in thick layers of glossy black and red paint, the faded carpet was ripped up with animal droppings and the 2 person elevator leaned to the right. There was a homeless man living in the laundry room and another tenet who carted around Styrofoam heads bunggie corded to wire racks. And even though my oven didn't work, giant rats had made it up the the 6th floor where I stayed, and my toilet never stopped flushing, I was thrilled to call this place mine. 

There were quite a few events in this apartment, I could probably write a novel...but the most memorable for me was in April 2009. I was preparing for my last 2 finals, sleep deprived, food deprived, money deprived...the day didn't seem as if it could get any more stressful. I had to run to school and take a morning final, come back home to finish my evening final, run back to school to submit it, and then make it to work by 6pm.

The elevator was not suppose to transport animals but I was in too much of a rush to run up and down 6 flights of steep winding stairs so I pulled my dog Sam into the elevator with me, pushed the half-broken off Lobby button that sometimes shocked you, and then the elevator stopped, the lights shut off, and there was an odd silence in the building. It was the middle of the day and the electricity went out-just my luck! I started banging on the door, without my cell phone, with a dog whom had to pee, and mid-day while everyone was at lunch.

Finally about 10 minutes later I can hear a woman asking if someone is in the elevator, she keeps asking me if I'm ok, if I need an ambulance, am I claustrophobic...Some time later I hear sirens, honking, and I think 'surely that can't be for me...' but it was, a whole fire truck, ambulance, cop cars all came to rescue me from the 18th century elevator.

At this point everyone in the building was waiting outside the elevator to see the rescue. I could hear the firefighters prying the doors open and cops pushing people back. I was in-between floors so they weren't sure how to pull me out. Finally about an hour later I saw a stream of light. The hallway was packed and everyone cheered, how embarrassing!!!! They successfully pulled me out but Sam the dog was shaking in the corner. The firefighters where nice enough to climb up into the elevator and try to sooth him, my neighbors brought out treats to try to bribe him but I could tell that dog was not going to be tempted and I would be the only one to talk him into jumping out. With a 4 story drop under the elevator you had to be careful not to get fall down the elevator shoot. I stood a few feet from the drop, clapped my hands, got Sam's attention and finally he pulled himself together ran out of the elevator and I had 65 pounds of Labrador flying at me. Sam jumped right into my arms knocking me over but finally we had both escaped. 

It took about 2 hours from start to finish and at this point I was already running late to turn in my final. As I walked into class and started to explain myself I felt like that kid from "And to think that I saw it on Mulberry street" by Dr. Seuss. This story was way to crazy to explain, and my professor obviously thought I was lying through my teeth, so I sucked it up, turned in my incomplete assignment, and got a C. 

So, I learned....you should never procrastinate because you never know when you will get stuck in an elevator and have to be rescued by firefighters.

Hailey Schultz

Personal Website

Don't forget to check out my Personal Website, there are some pretty cool additions!

http://schultzhailey.wix.com/visionary

Hailey Schultz

Never #1

In high school there are always the Math wizzes, Track stars, perfect figured cheerleaders, and the nerds in AP classes. I was never the best at anything, which hindered my path into college. I liked many things, I loved nothing, but decided to go to college for architecture.

My first and second year of college I began to find my weaknesses, calculus, and my strengths, making hard decisions. It might not be the name of a class, but “making hard decisions” is a skill I will value the rest of my life. It allowed me to switch my major, switch my college, and switch my city. It put me onto a direction that favored a wide range of talents, not one specialty.

If you are one of those people who don’t exceed in only one area, but exceed in adapting to many things, that is your #1.  Many jobs these days require a variety of skills, and if you fail at any one of them it could create a huge gap in your workload. So embrace your many skills, this makes you more versatile, adaptable, moldable, and gives you more of a management mentality.

Hailey Schultz

The Table of Contents to my Life

I finally put together a personal website!

The purpose of this website is to keep track of all running projects. It holds my contact information and keeps people up to date on my personal and professional life.

I love the idea of everyone having websites because unlike Facebook or Linkedin, you have total control of what to show, what things say, and it can be a great representation of who you are. So many of these prebuilt pages make it hard to stand out, they tend to communize everyone.

So here it is:
http://schultzhailey.wix.com/visionary

Hailey Schultz

What's a lunch?

Once you turn salary this is a question many of us ask. I step away from my desk to have lunch around once a month, as for the rest of the workdays I take a 15 minute internet/ snack break 2 or 3 times a day. 

Although personally I would like to not have a lunch break and leave 1 hour early from work everyday, I think lunch is something people should take advantage of, including myself. When I leave the office and come back I feel refreshed, empowered, and less tied down. I was not bothered by e-mails or a bright screen, I got to walk around, and I'm ready to push through the rest of my workload. 

I read an article recently of a CEO who works 4 days a week. How is that possible? Besides being very well organized and efficient, they don't get burnt out. They have a generous weekend with time to relax and rejuvenate themselves. 

Not very many people have the option to work only 4 days a week, but by taking your lunch break to relax and rejuvenate, I think your work and your day will be much more satisfying. 

Hailey Schultz