I try really hard to be a positive person as much as humanly possible. Sometimes the odds are against me and it's just impossible.
In my current job, I do application support for a system that is the heartbeat of a life insurance carrier. I was originally assigned to the "project" of selecting a vendor/system, then continued on the project as a Business Analyst, working to learn and configure the system to meet the needs of the business. After it rolled out in summer of 2009, our roles started changing and I eventually found myself in an official role of production support.
I started working for this company in 2003 as an executive assistant and managed to work my way up to a manager before I got tagged to be on this project. I was honestly skeptical when I first was assigned to the project, but looking back now, I am so grateful for the experience and knowledge that I've gained. What began as a project has turned into a whole new career path, and I've learned more about system architecture and configuration than I could have ever imagined. Don't get me wrong, I had some serious low points during the "stand up" phase of the project. Working 70+ hours a week for almost 2 years, going through a divorce in the meantime, understaffed and overworked. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. It has been a long but rewarding ride.
Having never worked in an IT role before, I guess I was oblivious to how challenging (for lack of a better word) users can be not only with a new system, but with systems in general. On a daily basis (and several times a day), I am dumbfounded by some of the things I encounter. Makes my goal of positivity really hard to achieve. I have failed miserably the last two days.
More importantly than anything, I love my team. I mean, really. I am on the greatest team ever! Though technically there are 2 teams working on this system, we work together like one team and get along like family (keeping in mind that families sometimes have their hurdles to overcome). We help each other out and achieve the impossible (or at least the very difficult). My team is the motivation for going to work every day. I mean, I do like my job, and I love the company I work for, but the daily grind can really get frustrating. I am so glad to have my peers.
Tomorrow is a new and better day!
GO TEAM COMPASS!!!
