Fire Drills & Mini-Project

^^ My day in four words. I worked on finding the certification dates of some teachers and more life insurance. I'm hoping that I'll soon learn all of the costs adjusted to the payroll system just by looking at it. ( (N*12)/26). And yes, I had a fire drill today. Because one end of the building is a preschool, I guess we have to have them too. Brought me back to the days of high school.... sigh. I received my first every direct phone call today. Not that it was really about me. A man was looking for the superintendent and I gave him my extension so the man could call and see if he had returned yet. But still! I felt special.

I watched some of the Royal Wedding on TV this morning. I know that people are either in love with it, or annoyed with it, but I'm neutral. When I was watching it, however, it was too cute!!! I adored her dress because it's just my style: simple yet elegant. Everyone here is talking about the wedding too, but it's just so beautiful!

Interviews

Interns have weekly assignments, and this week I had to do a bit of research and interview two people in the office. I interviewed Ms M. and Mrs H. today, who work in HR and the Superintendent's Office, respectively. Ms M. told me about the crises she always had to be ready for. She never knows if something will go wrong or someone will be upset. Although she loves her job, there are downsides. Ms M. often cannot share her opinions about anything without people assuming that her opinion was the opinion of the superintendents, or the view of the school system. I'm not sure if I'd like that too much, since I'm very opinionated ;).  Mrs H. spoke about the constant deadlines and extreme multitasking. She works a lot with making sure everyone is taken care of and protects the school system at the same time. Both women I interviewed always have to be prepared, because they never know who could walk into their office. It's a type of double-edged sword, I was told, when working for HR.

My Tulips!

Happy Administrative Assistant Day!

...Or something like that! I don't remember the exact name of today. I came back from my Stats class and a doctor appointment to find my fake flowers were AWOL. Mrs D. had stolen them back. About five minutes into my paperwork (matching up disability billing and reports), I noticed there was a vase of tulips on my desk right next to my hand. Mrs D. had stolen my flowers in exchange for beautiful real ones! Yay! I'll upload a picture later. It totally made my day, that's for certain. Last time that I received flowers was Valentine's Day (from a very special person :) ).

I had a nice talk with Mrs H. about the DL on HR (I'm so cool). Somehow our conversation turned to teachers that were at the high school when she went there.... and are still there today. That means they've been teaching for at least 20 years at the same school.

I can't believe my week is half over. Interning goes by so much faster than school because I feel as if I have more responsibility here. At school I just have to sit at a desk, listen to a teacher, take some notes, and do homework. But no one's life depends on what I do there (except my own). I think that's why I like working so much; because I'm actually impacting someone. Whether it's in a restaurant or an office, working is always fun for me.

My Office!

Stats Takeover (Barely Interning Today)

I won't be here long today because I didn't get in until about 9:45 due to my Stats class... and I have to leave around 11 for pre-registration for AP exams. So I don't have much to report (sorry). The Central Office is a busy place today, not sure why. End of the month, possibly? Sorry if this journal entry is not what I'm supposed to do for my internship, but today is quite impossible to write about :/. Tootles!

Monday, April 25th

I could not think of a more exciting title for this post, so for that I am sorry.

I arrived at my internship after my Stats class. I was feeling like it was going to be a good day since my 3rd term grade in that class was 8 points higher than my 2nd term grade. But I am no longer a "pleasure to have" in his class....hmm....

Last Tuesday over vacation, I can into work in jeans because we were filing allll day. We moved boxes and boxes of files from the Ugly Closet to Room 3 (3rd grade classroom). I saw a man's file who was born in 1901! I also found some files with some of my own blood on it... it was a paper cut-filled day. Today, when I went into Room 3, there were boxes stuffed with paper all over the room. Thank goodness they belonged to Payroll. I don't want to do any more filing for a few days, if not weeks!

Today I used Munis for the first time (yay!). I moved retired employees from one file to another. It's more exciting than it sounds, I promise. But Munis is set up so that I had to print a report for each employee I moved; I think I killed a few trees today. The best part about the reports, however, was the bottom. It says "END OF REPORT --- GENERATED BY..." and then my name. I feel so special! It even says 'kgreer' at the top! Mrs H. showed me a part of Munis where I can change people's info to whatever I like. Of course, it only stays that way on my computer. She told me that I can give people I don't like weird middle names. I think I'll change my mom's middle name to 'Danger'.

After that, I worked on health care bills and insurance. There are so many choices for employees, and each deduction is different. I had to "tick and tie" to make sure that everyone is getting what they want. Some people want life insurance 15 times higher than others, and some people have life insurance for their spouses and children, as well.

Other good events:
- The Superintendent got my name right (finally, after 2 years of knowing me)
- I picked my college! Yayyy! I'll be in NYC next year. 5th avenue, here I come!
- I discovered cream in the frig for my coffee. Great success.
- I decorated my office! I'll put up pictures next time I remember to. It is now colorful.

Everyone's looking forward to the weekend!

My first week is done! That went by so much faster than a school week. I wanted to bring in some posters for my office but I wasn't sure what to bring in... so I brought in coffee! When I was using the Keurig, I selected the larger cup, not realizing how tiny my mug is. The coffee overflowed into the little tray so I tried to wipe it up. Good thing no one saw :)

The program was put on my computer, so now I have a Munis account! I really don't know what Munis is, though. My guess is that it's like iPass.

Today I worked on finishing up a bit of the project I started yesterday and started some new projects crunching numbers. (I've never used that term before. Weird.) Mrs. D needed help rearranging an Excel sheet that had formulas on it and I think I spent a good hour trying to figure out how to make a formula that would automatically fill in the number of row it was on. Then I realized I could just copy and paste the numbers into the different columns. I think in like 7th grade I was taught how to use the formulas in Excel, but to be honest all I can do now simple equations with only a few cells, or sums. Sad.

I won't be blogging next week because it's vacation. I will be coming in to intern Tuesday, but only to do some rearranging of the files. Hope y'all have a wonderful vacation! (:

ps: yes I did just use that as my title. Did I get that song stuck in your head? Sorry(:

postpostscript

If anyone knows what Pingy is and why that website is suggesting my blog, please tell me.

Thanks (:

(http://pingywebedition.somee.com/) <--- ??

Postscript

PS: whenever I post this link on Facebook, I instantly gain like 30 viewers. So if you clicked on my blog and are like "omg she does this errday", then you're right. I'm totally trying to see how many views I can get. I have like 113 so far and this blog has been live for like five days. I have views from the US, Germany, and Canada.... who the heck is viewing this from Canada?? (aber noch geil!)

Project Time

Today I got right to work. HR started a new project and I get to help out, so all day I've been reading and reviewing and comparing. No filing or phone calls today! I keep forgetting to bring in things to beautify my office. Actually that's a lie, I don't forget. I just don't have time :/. Next week will be such a nice vacation. I'm only coming in to HR one day to move some files out of the Ugly Closet and into my old 3rd grade classroom. Best part: I can wear a sweatshirt!

Now I understand why people need to have an exercise ball or something in their office/cubicle. I get kinda antsy. I'm not used to concentrating straight for hours, especially since classes last 50 minutes and I get to run around the school in between them. It's ok, though. I made some coffee this morning as a little break and when I ate my lunch I browsed online. It'll take a little getting used to, but its so much better than school.

I noticed a Keurig machine yesterday and Ms M. told me today I can use it whenever. Such a win! I have some K-Cups at home sitting in a box for college, but I think I'll break into them tomorrow. I'll have to bring a cute mug too. So excited.

Last night I had to do the first weekly assignment since I'm meeting with my adviser today. I feel like the assignments almost drag the internship down. Some of them aren't too helpful. Like last night, I researched the history of Microsoft. One of the questions was asked if it was successful... enough said. I don't even know what I'll do for my presentation. I'm supposed to take pictures, too, but of what? Computers and desks? Some people have internships at vets and have projects like painting murals. I'm not that kind of person, so HR is great for me. But nevertheless, my pictures will surely not be as colorful as the rest of the interns.

Secretary Sub

While Mrs D. and Mrs H. are out, I have to answer the phones. I like how every day they teach me something new. It is a lot less stressful than learning everything on my first day here! No one has called yet, so I can't practice. :(

The IT guys are going to install some HR programs on my computer today. I'm excited! Someone just called (yay!) so I put my hostessing skills to work. I feel like I always sound like I'm five when I answer the phone. Oh well!

I'm working on gathering things for the bulletin board that I'm going to redecorate outside of our offices. There's a local photographer who takes beautiful images, but all of his work is copyrighted. I emailed him asking for permission to use his pictures, but he hasn't replied yet... He's nice, though, so I'm expecting good news :)

I need to do my first Internship project tonight because I'm meeting with my adviser tomorrow after school. So after work, then Stats, then work, then Stats homework, I'll get that done. And my dad wonders why I don't wake up refreshed every morning...

Deductions

I have upgraded from my simply knowledge of checking lists to see if everyone is there. That's right. I made it to level 2. Today has contained a lot of math and numbers pertaining to health care deductions on payroll. There are so many different types of health care and dental care and family plans and individual plans. I guess because I'm 18 I've never really had to think about health care before. It seems scary, to be honest.

I have good news, though. I get to keep my office! Yay! I mean, I wouldn't mind switching rooms, but I suppose I've already gotten used to this room. Mrs. D. brought me some fake flowers in a pretty vase so my room is no longer white, tan, and brown. I think I'll follow her lead and add some more color to my room.

Every time the phone rings, I get nervous. It's a good think it only rings when it's going to Mrs. D. No ones called me yet, although I have my own extension and direct line (don't get any ideas). I don't know what I'd actually say, since I don't know too much about everything that goes on in Human Resources...
but that's ok! It's my second day, so I think that's a pretty good excuse.

First Day!

After getting up at 5:45 to get stuff for Teacher Appreciation week, sitting in my school's library for two hours, and going to my AP class, I finally got to my internship. I got my own cute little office with a desk and a computer and a phone that looks wicked confusing. Unfortunately, I won't be enjoying my own little office for much longer. The Superintendent said he needed it, so I'll be moving into his conference room. At least it's a bigger room and has a window so I can hear kids at recess even louder. (Kidding, it actually doesn't bother me. It's cute.)

I learned the basic layout of the building, which I was already a little familiar with from School Committee. The room where my 3rd grade class once vacated is now a storage room. Kinda weird to think about. I got to work on matching up records and bills to find any discrepancies, filing stuff, pulling records, and the like. It's scary to think about all the checking and typing and filing that has to be done to run a school system. It is so much more than I ever would have thought. Even worse was the 'Ugly Closet', which holds records that predate me by a good 20 years. It may be organized, but it's crazy to look at.

I got a few paper cuts when I was getting out some retired paraprofessional papers and bled on a few folders. Awkward.

This Blog's Background

Senior interns have to keep a journal or a blog or some kind of daily notes so that they can remember everything. As my handwriting is horrible and I can become lazy, I've found that the best way for me to do this is through blogging. It is entirely possible that no one will read this, but that is besides the point. I've never blogged before, so this should be internesting (ha!).

I will be in the Human Resources Department starting on Monday. I'm excited! I love helping out. I feel uncomfortable using full names since anyone can see this, so I will be referring to everyone by initial. For example, the supervisor of my internship is Mrs. D. My teacher who will be ensuring that I do all the little  (another joke) projects is Mr. C. He'll probably be reading this, too. (Hi, Mr. C!) Also, I'll call the school system 'WPS' so that no creepy person can find me. I'm sure there are many WPSes in the world.

Wish me luck on Monday!