You see, I wasn't sure what day I would start my job. Yesterday I e-mailed the head registrar for the school (since I'm the assistant registrar) and asked. She said I probably was starting the next day (today) but that I should contact a person in HR to check. I e-mailed the person in HR and waited but I didn't hear from him.
This morning I decided to wake up around 8. At 9 I decided to go to the grocery store and I figured I would grab a donut or two there and that would be breakfast. Well, just as I was leaving I received a phone call asking me where I was because I was supposed to be at work! Whoops! I changed out of my wookie t-shirt and shorts and got into something a little more professional. Off to work I went!
Now, let's be honest for a moment. I was not in the best mood. I didn't have breakfast and I HATE being late. I arrived and boy did things turn around. Everyone was so happy to see me! Keep in mind that I know everyone in the front office but this is the first time I will be working with them daily. They were obviously excited for me to start my job and genuinely looking forward to working with me. How lucky am I?!
I spent the first couple of hours with my coworker, J. (I don't know how any of them would feel being mentioned by name so for now we will go with just an initial) She showed me a system called TRex. Here's what I was hoping for:
Instead I got the Texas Records Exchange. Whomp whomp. Now I know how school districts communicate with each other when a student transfers into or out of their school. Unfortunately I couldn't do it myself because I do not yet have my own account. J also showed me what our grade/attendance program, Skyward, looks like from our point of view. Holy cow, there's a lot to it! As a teacher I could put in attendance and grades. There's so much more that the front office staff can do with it! Again, I can't really use it because Skyward thinks I'm still a teacher.
Since I do not yet have access to the necessary programs, I spent the afternoon doing an important but very repetitive job: purging files. You see, Texas law requires schools to keep students' records for a few years after they graduate. However, once they graduate we do not have to keep everything we have. It's mostly the academic things that have to be stored; things like photocopies of birth certificates are no longer needed. That means that today I started going through the recent graduates' files and took out the unnecessary papers (they will be shredded). I know many people would hate this kind of work but I really don't mind it. I get to listen to music and I can do this work while seated. Both of those things are luxuries in the eyes of a former teacher.
Tomorrow I will go back and continue purging files. I'm also hoping to set-up my office a bit. It has all the basics: a desk, a computer (with two monitors!), a phone, some filing cabinets, and a bookshelf. I need to take some time to move the furniture a little and to decorate. I kept all of my classroom decorations so I'm sure that I will have plenty to make the room mine. I'm really looking forward to my new job!
-Clare G. S.
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