Singin’ Sweet Home Alabama All Summer Long…

Ah, summer. Popsicles, going swimming, staying up late and sleeping til noon, eating outside, vacations and no homework!

Well, at least until you have to get a summer job. This is something I’m sure almost all of us can relate to. There you were, enjoying three glorious months of carefree activities like the ones listed above and BAM! Suddenly, mom and dad aren’t paying for things anymore and you need to come up with some form of monetary compensation. Then the real challenge arises: how can you find a job and still enjoy your now limited summer vacations before you’re stuck working… (Dare I say it?)… All… Year…Long…?

Luckily for me, I devised a solution that has served me well over my past 3 summers: I’m a nanny.

For me, nannying is the perfect summer job. I (literally) get to play all day long, I have a flexible schedule, I have countless “soft” benefits like free lunches and snacks, the ability to drive the kids around on someone else’s gas money, and a comfy attire of t-shirts, shorts and flip flops, and best of all I always love going to work!

Here is a picture of me “hard at work”:

Up until June, I didn’t even have to drive to work! I just walked across the street and into my neighbor’s house- pretty nice commute, if you ask me! But when the ever-growing family of 7 finally outgrew their 3-bedroom house, it was time for them to move. Now my 5-minute commute gives me enough time to wake up before chasing after the 5 kids all day! Between the 13-year-old, 10-year-old, 7.5-year-old, 5-year-old and 2-year-old, I’m kept plenty busy but I wouldn’t trade a thing. I’ve bonded with each of these kids in various ways and have come to love them dearly. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of coming to work and having the toddler sprinting towards you for a hug, grinning from ear to ear shouting “HI TOOZIE!” (Toddler talk for: “Hi Susie!”)

Now don’t start hating me too much. This summer I decided I also needed some “real world” experience, and I was able to get an intensive one-month internship at Kroll Ontrack, Inc. This internship allows me to nanny part-time yet I can still devote 20-30 hours a week to Kroll Ontrack. Here at my “real” job, I serve as an administrative assistant to the Head of Strategic Development, so I do things like file and track expense reports, make copies, and I’m going to be doing some language translation work for the President! I was a bit apprehensive at first because I wasn’t sure if I could handle being in a cubicle all day, but I’m actually really enjoying it! (I also really like the new work wardrobe I got to buy!) Here are two pictures of my office at Kroll:

I was so surprised to walk in to my first day of work and see that I already had a name plate on my cubicle! Working in an office is definitely a new experience for me, but it’s one that I’m glad to have. It’s helping me see how a global business runs and my cubicle is steps away from the offices of the company President, the COO, the CFO, and (my boss) the Head of Strategic Development. So you can imagine I’m learning a lot simply by being in such close proximity to these successful people!

Not only will this experience help boost my resume, it’s even better that this opportunity arose before graduation. After Stonehill is over, I’m hoping to move back to Paris (where I studied abroad in the fall of 2007) and work in an office there, so this experience will hopefully help prepare me for the corporate world. I’m still not quite sure how my psychology major will fit in, but my French major will definitely pay off!

The rest of my summer will be a balancing act: nanny some days, intern the others. But it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to. I enjoy the contrast of working alongside educated adults some days and spending others reminding the 2-year-old to say “please” and “thank you”.

And hey, before you know it, August 24^th will be here and I’ll be moving back to Stonehill, ready to start another academic year. As excited as I am to move back to school, I can say that my summer situation does have one perk over Stonehill: no homework!

Minnesota... that's next to California, right?

Ok, I admit it. I do. No, really... I do. I'll even say it, right here, right now, for all of you to read.



Deep breath...






Hi, I'm Susie... and I'm from Minnesota.





Ok, I said it. Now I can only imagine you're doing 1 of 3 things right now:

1. Rolling your eyes (Because really, who actually lives in Minnesota? I mean, besides those 5 million registered citizens...)
2. Feeling sorry for me (Well, don't. My great state is home to over 10,000 lakes, the recording artist Prince (who lives in my town- actually I can see his recording studio from my bedroom), the 2008 Home Run Derby Champion Justin Morneau, the Mighty Ducks trilogy (which was filmed at my high school) and of course, the great sport of hockey!)
3. Getting out a map to find out exactly where Minnesota is (Is it in the US or Canada? Who knows?)

During my 3 years at Stonehill, I have gotten all of these responses once someone learns what state I'm from. Back in the fall of 2005, I was just an innocent Stonehill freshman who wasn't quite sure how to deal with questions such as "Minnesota... that's next to California, right?" or "Wow, Minnesota... can you see the Pacific Ocean from your house?" Even now, as my final year at Stonehill approaches, I still have to remind my friends that my 3-hour flight to school is a lot quicker than their 8-hour drive and reassure them that no, they didn't wake me up by calling at 10 pm, it's actually only 9 pm by me.

There are a handful of us "Minnesotans" at Stonehill and I'm sure we each do our own defending of the North Star state. I would now like to set the record straight on a place that only ONE of my Stonehill friends has come out to see (Shout out to my fantastic roommate Mandi Bates, who has voluntarily come to visit me in "Minna" numerous times!)

So without further ado, I present to you, the Stonehill community:

True Life: I'm from Minnesota

Myth: Minnesota is located "out west"

Truth: Minnesota is considered the "midwest", as we're situated between the Dakotas and Wisconsin. Here's a map of the midwest to help you out:

Myth: Our seasons consist of spring (when the snow melts), summer (when the average high might reach 50°), fall (when we start preparing for the imminent snow) and winter (when it snows every minute of every day of every week... until spring)

Truth: We do have 4 seasons, but they don't all revolve around snow. In fact, while it does snow frequently, our main concern is usually the freezing temperatures and wind chills, which hit a record low in 1982 when the wind chill registered at -71° (that's right, 71° below zero). But the springs, summers and falls are pleasant, which help strike the re-location thoughts we all get around late January...

vs.

Myth: Minnesota sports teams have never had any good athletes.

Truth: Boston sports fans may thank us for providing you with the following: David Ortiz, Randy Moss, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, Wally Szczerbiak, JD Drew, Laurence Maroney and Doug Mientkiewicz.

Myth: Everyone lives on a farm or in an igloo.

Truth: Of the 5 million Minnesota residents, over half live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, a.k.a. suburbia. In fact, here is a picture of my house:

Myth: Fargo is in Minnesota and EVERYONE has the accent.

Truth: Fargo is in North Dakota, and while some MN natives may stretch out their “o’s” to an ungodly length, most of us speak quite normally.

But best of all:

Wisconsin has cheese. Iowa has corn. South Dakota has Mt. Rushmore. North Dakota has… well, not much. But Minnesota has something greater than them all... The Mall of America:

(Yes, you’re seeing correctly. We have an indoor amusement park in our mall!)

Hopefully this post has cleared up some misconceptions, taught you something new and (hopefully) made you giggle a bit. I’ve lived in 3 different states and have enjoyed my time in all of them, but there is something special about Minnesota. And maybe this post will change the requisite “Whoa, you’re from Minnesota?” comments I’m sure to get during my senior year to “Whoa, you’re from Minnesota!!!”