It's been ages since I've blogged, but I have been busy. . . being hired by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)!!! :) I applied for a Corporate Liaison position in late June, and in mid-July, PETA brought me up to Norfolk, VA to interview. Last week, I recieved the call that I'd been selected for the job! I start August 17th!!!!!!!

My dream was always to work for a non-profit, "saving the world". After college, Bank of America made me a good offer, and I signed on and worked on the trading floor for a year, and eventually became a business continuity consultant. A couple years later, I joined Wachovia, in Operational Risk, again specializing in business continuity and Microsoft SharePoint web development. When Wells Fargo took over Wachovia this year in the merger, I was blessed to be offered another position with the new, combined organization, again, in Operational Risk. Around that time, I saw the position with PETA posted, and I decided to go for it. I've always hated math, never been interested in the least in banking and really, this economy is rather depressing if you ask me.

I'd been telling myself since college that I really was

"saving the world" by being a business continuity consultant, as we prepare the bank for disasters - situations ranging from a snowstorm where buildings are inaccessible, to 9/11-type terrorist attacks, to pandemic flu. Truth be told, I've felt for the last four years that all I've done since college is push data around.

The two days I spent in Norfolk, VA interviewing with PETA were incredible. I worked my butt off (it was a volunteer working interview), and felt so satisfied with what I completed, but at the same time, craving more projects. Returning to Wachovia was miserable for me. Sitting in my bank cubicle was tortorous, with the knowledge that I could be doing so much to help end the suffering of animals during those eight hours each day, but instead I was just inputing data. . . and often dealing with office "drama". And boy have chic hormones been flying since the integration started. I've had two quotes hanging up in my cube to "ward off" some of the negativity:

July 30th was one of the happiest days of my life. I can only describe the feeling I had as though I'd just been released from a jail sentence. . . like I'd escaped from a career I had no passion for, and into the freedom of waking up and doing what I feel God created me to do. I've been miserable, the more I came to realize the irony that so many of us spend the majority of our waking hours doing something we don't really like.

Really, think of the breakdown of an average work week:

1.5hrs - Get ready for work

45min - Commute to work

9hrs - Work

45min - Commute from work

8hrs - Sleep to rest up for work

That leaves 5hrs of free time. Twelve hours of our day, each day, revolves around work, commuting to work or getting ready for work. That's half our day! Throw in sleep, and that's 75% of our day revolving around our careers.

Stay tuned in about a week. . . when I start saving animals full-time. :)