New Apartment, Flickr, Jobs…

11 May 2006

Once again I find myself apologizing for the lack of updateage. But wait, I have a good excuse, I swear! First off, school…

I finished Spring semester at Mercer last Saturday (May 6th) with my hardest final, Electronics 2. I was rather discouraged going into (and coming out of) the final since I was almost 100% certain that I would fail the class. Thankfully, it would seem that I have passed the class with a big happy C! In all my other classes things seemed to flow a little easier. All in all, this marks the completion of my 6th semester at Mercer, 104 hours of class, or, in other words, I’m now considered a senior!

Concurring with end of school insanity (aka Finals), I found myself in a mad dash with time on the subject of fall living arrangements. As fate would have it, I had to move out of my room on campus and into my new apartment the same day as my last final. Talk about a hectic day… Anyway, I am now living off Vineville Avenue with Clay Jones and Eric Lasseter. We have a three bedroom, two story apartment with a jacuzzi on the back porch… I can’t wait to see where this goes.

Then there’s flickr… I finally (after much mental anguish) gave in and decided to give my flickr account a spin. And believe it or not, its actually kinda cool. A whole social photo sharing thing, and a little bit of fun. I have almost been persuaded to get a pro account… anyway, join flickr, add me as a contact (I’ll be sure and put you as one of my contacts too), and post up some pictures!

Finally, the really big news. Coinciding with finals was a wee little bit of “what am I going to be doing this summer” stress. And thus I was sleeping in late on dead day (last Wednesday) when I was awakened by a phone call (which I almost mistook as my alarm) that went something like this:

Me: Hello?

Voice: Yes, is this Matthew Smith?

Me: Yes…

Voice: Hi, this is with and I am calling to see if you would be interested in a summer co-op position with (lost in sleepy daze). I got your resume from (also lost in fog of sleep). Would it be a problem for you to work in LaGrange over the summer?

Me: Uh, No…

Voice: Ok, good – how’s Saturday for an interview?

Me: Sure!

Voice: Ok, good – I’ll see you in the engineering building about 5pm.

Me: Ok, thanks! See you there.

While this is a slightly abridged version of our conversation, you get the idea that I had no idea what was going on. Anyway, upon checking my email afternoon I discovered the missing details – the call was from Mr. Walker with Emerson Network Power, and my resume had be referred to him by our career services lady. Despite being worn out Saturday, the interview went well and I was invited up to the plant in LaGrange for another interview the following Monday. I am happy to report that the second interview went quite well – I am confident that I have secured the job (I am waiting on the background check and then I must complete a physical) – my first real engineering job! Not only will this provide me with priceless hands-on experience, but a healthy paycheck too.

As you can see, I’ve been filling my days with activity. Please forgive me for my lack of updates and be sure to check back soon!