SomeFrills

The past two weeks of training in New Jersey have been really phenomenal. At the risk of sounding incredibly naive, I will fully confess to adoring the people in my training “class,” about 35 in total. They are all very smart and ambitious—we are part of a leadership development program—but more than that they have desires and ambitions outside the corporate food chain. It wasn’t just a giant morass of cut-throat competition.

We spent a lot of time at dinner together, showing the internationals the local sights, and getting to know each other. There was some corporate indoctrination, business etiquette, and low-level computer programming as well. And more snacks than you can imagine. Some people complained about weight gain because they don’t eat that often. Now I know who not to turn to when my snack stash runs low!

In many ways it felt like freshman year of college with ice breakers and group snacks, but most importantly the new relationships. I’ve heard people say that they prefer falling in love to being in a loving relationship, because there is such a rush from the not knowing and uncertainty.

While I don’t know if I echo that statement (seems like apples and oranges, frankly), I do love that rush when you first meet people and you’re trying to see how you’ll fit together. Your jokes are a little tamer, you give them more personal space, and you’re frantically repeating their name in your head so it’ll stick. Then, once you know them, things change. You make suggestive comments about their mothers, don’t feel any hesitations in hiding their shoes when they leave the room, and are making new nicknames every other day. I love that transition from one point to the other and how quickly it happens. One day you are laughing politely, but not contributing, and the next you are right in the middle instigating the silliness.

In addition to being thoroughly enjoyable (and exhausting), these past two weeks have also given me hope and inspiration for Arkansas and the space I am going to carve for myself out here. If I can meet so many amazing people in just two weeks, imagine what can happen in 9 months!