a right-brained boy in a left-brained office
My first week is down. Surprisingly, it went by faster than I thought.
The office, at the beginning, was bigger than I thought. But as I settled in quickly, I realised again just how small it really is. Our team is not big at all. We're not in the big leagues. We don't need that many people. Nevertheless, the company is expanding and with that, there's room for growth. Hence, me, I suppose.
I thought that Accounting would be dull. I thought it would simply be number punching all the way and so I didn't ask for or expect much from it.
Boy, was I right.
I've been given quite a lot of tasks already despite it only being my first week. Nothing major, obviously. For the past 5 days, I've been computing tax returns, balancing and preparing financial statements, reconciling statements and learning the administrative curves around the office. Exciting stuff as you might imagine. If I'm not on my computer, I'm onto a stack of papers with more numbers than words. If I'm not on my stack of papers, I'm on my calculator. In between them all, I would be at the kitchen adding hot water to my mug (I've been down with a minor cold) or in the toilet (thanks to mugs hot water).
I struggle to find meaning between the figures. Balancing statements isn't even as satisfying as it used to be in uni - not that it ever was, quite honestly. But hey, it's quite an achievement, you know. This week feels like a very long assignment that is only replaced with another one once you're done with the current one. There's no assessment marks. Just another one after this. And oh, you have to get it all right. It's slowly dawning upon me that this is how it's going to be for the next few years (or shorter, fingers crossed).
Previously, I've always had an end to look forward to. If it's an internship, I would have a short term only to serve; the end of my three months would come. If it were a casual job, I would have the next one to look forward to. Oh, and I could not rock up if I came up with a good enough excuse. If it were uni, I would have the holidays to look forward to just around the corner. But on this end of the alley, there isn't an end to look forward to. This is not uni with a definitive 3-year term to serve. I can't see a clear end of the road to this.
In other words, this is it.
And yet, the week has ended. And here I am - thankful. The week has gone by fairly quickly.
Sure, there has been times already when all I do is stare at the bottom, right-hand corner of my computer screen and mentally scream at it to turn to 5pm immediately. Especially after lunch. But this has been only a minority of my time spent there.
It has surprisingly been pleasant.
The work itself is repetitive. As I said earlier, I struggle to find meaning in the work that I do. I don't find it fulfilling. But then again, it has only been 5 days. I am still only learning and starting to pick up the how-to's around the office. I am dreading it a lot now because I find myself not being able to comprehend a lot of what I'm doing, but apparently that's normal. The learning curve, as I've been told, is steep. It is something that takes getting used to. But once I've had a rough idea of what I'm doing, things would start to make sense and be better.
Well, that's what they tell me at least.
And I believe them.
The people are good. In fact, they're great. The small team makes it comfortable and cozy. And they're always smiling and supportive. I've started to even form lunch cliques (yay). Managers and partners aside, there's only two guys including myself against half a dozen ladies. No wonder the partner told me that when hiring, he'd really prefer a guy.
I believe I have much to learn from this place and time; as much as a dread it's appearing to be at the moment. What it promises is far more valuable than what it is right now, and that's just how investments tend to work. I believe this is an investment into my future and that I am at the right place. As much as I often feel that I'm still not willing to grow up and face life as an adult (shudder), I know it's high time too.
I'm just looking forward to my full paycheck in the next two weeks.
