Good Morning! Wish I didn’t leave you hanging, so here’s the rest of the story!
So that email basically CRUSHED me and I dwelt upon it for a couple of days. I literally felt as if all of my experience, my knowledge, and potential was overlooked! My confidence in myself and possibly having a summer job had minimized to the size of a poppy seed. When something like this happens, you should get up again and tell yourself “It could have been worse…”
So, my applications for more work opportunities became more aggressive; I was applying for at least 2 jobs in the morning and 2 at night. I was DETERMINED in my heart to get a job because once September rolls around and it’s time to go back to school, funds wouldn’t be flowing in as much as it could if I did end up getting a summer job.
Fast forwarding: Funds for the mission trip started to slow down. I started doubting and began to believe that this mission trip wasn’t for me to participate in.
Days and weeks past, the same email message was received, “Thank you for your application. Your files are being reviewed and processed. Qualifying applicants will be contacted for interviews.” Come to think of it, I was at a ‘pause’ in my life. – No more funds coming in for the mission trip + no responses for a job interview… I was stuck.
Then, the inevitable happened… the organization that had once emailed me nearly a MONTH AGO said that my online resume had received a high viewer count, and they had asked if I would reconsider their previous denial of my application. I gave it a couple more days before I responded to the employer, prayed about it and counselled and concluded: WHY NOT? What do I have to lose? At least we could all say I tried, right? (At least, that’s what I tell my friends and family, anyway).
BAM! Fulfilled the pre-interview requirements: an essay-style written response to an article + comments on their online newsletters. Didn’t I “sign out” of school in April? Ahh, whatever it takes to land an interview. Surely, within the week I had received a call from the HR and had an interview set for the following week.
So, the interview happened, and as I sat in the car right after it, I took deep breaths and said, God, if this is for me, make it happen. If not, touch the hearts of my friends and family who have received my emails/Facebook and/or text messages so that this Mission Trip could happen. It’s all You God.
I drove home.
Within 30 minutes of arriving home, I noticed a missed call on my phone. It was the organization! Wait, what?! I listened to the voicemail message they left me and called the HR back immediately! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She told me that they had been looking for a total of four students to work in their team for the summer, and after I had left, they didn’t want me to get away and want me to complete the team. I sat there taking this unexpected news, in, and gazed at my pen and notebook as she explained what my next steps would be, prior to the first day of work. I brought up the mission trip and asked if this would be acceptable as it would take up to 1 week and a few days. She put me on hold. Uh-oh, this is it. Back to square one. Ok not really… She took me off of hold, and told me that the position required that I be present for the full duration of 8 weeks! Surprisingly. again, she asked me about the mission trip and seemed rather interested in the work that I would be doing. However, the plot twist is… I told her that I wasn’t sure as to whether or not I would be going on this mission trip… I noticed a change in the tone of her voice, she seemed more excited. Talk about greedy! I told her that I could let her know by Tuesday next week, and she said she was looking forward to hearing from me then.
Fast forward, I felt like the ‘pause’ was struggling to be switched to ‘play’. How in the world would an HR even give a student a chance to decide and finalize the answer after saying yes to a job offer? I prayed much and talked to some close friends and they alluded to telling me to do what I think would be a better investment in the long run – what is it I NEED?
Stay tuned for part 3.
L I F E I S A B E A U T 