Well, it was Wednesday morning which means my interview at Columbia University was later that afternoon. I actually wasn't nervous about the interview, I was more nervous about making sure I got where I needed to be safely and on time. I took the same route Dan and I took when we went into NYC on Monday, so I felt fairly comfortable, but still you just never know. And of course I grew up where there was no public transportation what-so-ever and lived in Baltimore where there was public transportation but it was useless, unreliable, and kind of scary, so the idea of public transportation that everyone uses all the time is definitely a new concept.
First I made it to the Director of Recruiting's office, which is north of campus pretty much in a sketchy area. Actually, it is in the area known as Manhattanville which is the area that the University wants to take over and build on -- which of course was one complaint the hunger strikers had with the University. I met with the Director of Recruiting, Paula, and enjoyed talking to her. She asked a lot of good thoughtful questions; not just typical interview questions like 'what are your strengths? and what are your weaknesses?' After talking with her for about 15 or 20 minutes, she decided she wanted me to go speak with the lady at the President's office, Carla. They had an opening there that she thought I would be perfect for, so I headed back down to campus to meet Carla. Paula emphasized that Carla was very busy and would probably have only a few minutes to speak with me but while I was there she wanted me to talk with her about the position.
When I arrived at the President's office, I sat and waited as the receptionist notified Carla I was there to speak with her. After a few minutes - that seemed like an eternity and it was hotter than hell in there - Carla finally came out to greet me and take me back to her office. We sat down and began talking after I gave her a resume. Did I mention how hot it was in there?? I felt like I was melting!! I used to working in a government office where the temperature is always too cold! Anyways, we chatted for a bit and she asked about my background, etc. She was talking about the position she was looking to fill and it sounded as if I was more than qualified. It would be scheduling and some administrative sort of things for the President of the Unviersity. It sounded like it was not exactly what I wanted, but hey, if I could get in with Columbia, then I could go to graduate school for free! woohoo! So while talking to her I of course emphasized my experience working for Lt. Governor Steele. I mean I WAS his schedule for 1 1/2 years as well as doing all other things in the office including writing letters, helping with speeches, answering phones, appeasing his wife, taking care of everyone else in the office and did it all with one hand tied behind my back. Okay, not really the one handed thing b/c that would be impossible but with all the stress I was sometimes ready to jump out the window -- just kidding -- kind of ;-). So, anyways, back on track... I finished talking with her and I thought things went pretty well. I wasn't sure how much I really liked her, but whatever, we would see what would happen. As an interesting side note, Carla told me that earlier that day, some students had an anti-hunger strike rally and passed out donuts outside of Low Memorial Library and Butler Hall. Gotta love college students who think they have the whole world figured out!
When I left the President's office I immediately checked the train schedule. If I could make it onto the subway and back to Penn Station asap, I could probably make the 4:43 train to South Orange; if not, I would have to wait until 5:15 which I did not want to have to do. So, I rushed to the subway and hopped on. As soon as we got to Penn Station I rushed out of the subway and into the madness that is Penn Station. With some people it seemed like leaving the turnstiles of the subway was like a starting line of a race where people took off running in all sorts of directions rushing to where they needed to go to get the next train. WHERE IS THE NEW JERSEY TRANSIT??? is all I could think! There's Long Island Railroad! There's Amtrak! there's the subway! There's the exit! Where's NJ Transit?? Finally I found it and it was 4:29. I think I mentioned earlier the train was leaving at 4:35. As soon as I got to the entry way for NJTransit, I found the monitor listing the train departures and saw my train was boarding at track 1. And this is when I felt like a real New Yorker... I started running through the crowd and maybe pushing people out of the way a little bit ;-/. It was nice to feel like I knew what I was doing and where I was going while these other people stood around lost. Is it wrong to feel that way?? lol. I made it to the train with time to spare. Then I remembered: Ah, yeah, I need a ticket. Thank god I had cash so I just bought it from the conductor.
I talked to Dan while I was on the train and told him I thought things went well. I told him I would get into South Orange around 5:25 and would be home shortly after that. When we pulled up the train station I got out, proceeded out of the exit just to be surprised with Dan standing there waiting for me to walk home with me. Isn't he sweet? The whole walk home I told him every detail. We all know I love to talk and run my mouth (I wonder where I get that from --Mom? ;-) ) I told him things went well and I would have to wait and see.
Lesson 6 on NJ: Don't be scared of not knowing where you are going. Odds are there are people around that are much more clueless than you.
Lesson 7 on NJ: Always have a train schedule handy so you can make it to the train on time!
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