Adoring reader, I've left you un-updated, lonesome, and likely worrisome of my dubious whereabouts. But I said I'd write you back, and I'm a man of my word, so here goes (better late than never):
Where to begin? It's been almost a year since my last Dear John. To be honest, it wasn't that I got bored of writing about all my goings-on, nor that I forgot about it. I was truly...busy (funny thing how that happens at work). Trinity has certainly groomed me quite well in the past year. With experience comes comprehension, with comprehension comes skill, with skill comes more work! I have learned so much, and I have seen such a variety of projects that I could garrulously expound on all the individual projects, site visits, performance reviews, personal and professional relationships, and travel I have undertaken in the last year. I think anyone reading this would agree that this would be both difficult to accomplish themselves, and mind-numbingly painful to read. So I will spare you that. I'll wrap it into this: I learned a lot, gained much more confidence and autonomy, advanced within Trinity, added a specialty, had to leave some good friends, and made some new ones.
To get back to the title, for myriad personal reasons, I decided that Charlotte was not the best place for me to be. I decided in July that I needed to be elsewhere, and I was pretty nervous about a) making the decision and b) letting everyone know. As I was well aware (and as my parents constantly reminded me), these kind of major decisions are not to be made lightly, and in America, are often grounds for tension in the workplace. There are many companies that do not especially care for the well-being of their employees, much less whether they are content with their careers or geographical location. Trinity is not one of these companies. From day one, I had been constantly reminded how supportive Trinity is, and how flexible it can be to work with its employees. I thought to myself, "Yeah, yeah, that's great, I'm sure it's true, but I'll never need to worry about it. I've got my plan, right?" Well, as I learned, plans change, especially at my age (23).
My initial anxiety was met with understanding, discussion and options. This was great! My office manager (Tony) and I were able to candidly talk about all the different things going on in my life, both personally and professionally, and he let me know that he would give me time to think about it, but also move along the paperwork. He let me know that of course he wanted me to stay, and that he greatly valued my contribution, but also understood my position. The word "bittersweet" does not adequately describe my move from Charlotte to Austin. I learned so much, and so valued the people I worked with in Charlotte. Even with just one year experience, these people were my friends, mentors, and colleagues. To leave them was hard, really hard. Yet I knew that Austin was where I needed to be. The welcoming spirit of Trinity HQ in Dallas was a good way to remind me that Trinity is great everywhere, and that I would find a good home with my new office, new (home) state. I have new regulations to learn, new clients to assist, new sites to visit, and new people to meet. At the same time, I still have all the experience and contacts I had in Charlotte, and I know everytime I call over there, I will get some nice greeting and likely some tomfoolery (sorry, I had to). For all the things going on in my crazy life right now, Trinity has been there to help me with the transition. You will be hard-pressed to find any company so willing to aid you, so understanding and cooperative with its employee's life plans. I cannot help but be continually impressed and endeared to such great people.
So I'll set my pom-poms down now, and just let you cogitate on this for a while. Trinity was just as committed to me as I was to it. Can you ask for more?
P.S. I promise to write again soon (less than 10 months from now). Make it a great day, ~ttfn.