Day 04

Today I went to my final two interviews.

Interview 1: MainStreet Advisors. It's located in this huge office building with about 20 elevators but only two call buttons. What is up with that? I like having one or two elevators; keep it simple for the hick folk. After I got on the elevator, I pushed the button for my floor, 37. But it was strange because there was a button for the ground floor and then it skipped to 24. I shrugged my shoulders and away I went. While I was waiting in the waiting away, how convenient, I asked the receptionist why it was like that. And she says, "Well, that would be too many floors for the elevator to stop on. Other elevators run one through 23. Haven't you ever been in a high-rise before?" Uh, no, I'm from Iowa. I have been in touristy tall buildings, but none that stop in the middle. The interview went well, but a little long. I met with four people, two at a time. It was nice because two of the employees attended NWC and were also CSers. Small world.

Interview 2: Optimum Investment Advisors. So, I made it to the building just fine, but again I struggled with the stupid elevators. This one is legitimate, though. Here's what happened. I got on and pushed the button for the 20th floor. My directions told me to get off on that floor and then ride a different elevator to the 21st. Sure, it sounds easy enough, especially since I just learned that useful tip at my last interview. However, they failed to mention that the other elevator was around the corner and down the hall. Wouldn't you think that would be in the directions? As for the interview, it went well. During our conversation the interviewer says to me, "Well you must have found the elevator okay. Some people have trouble finding us. We're kind of on a secret floor." Thanks for telling me now.

While those experiences were slightly traumatic, I learned a lot. In fact, I've shared this knew found elevator knowledge with my friends, for which they are very thankful.

My experience, thus far, with Chicagoans is that they are very much in their own world. They couldn't care less about the lives of the people around them. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, just very different than what I'm used to. But today I got a little taste of home. While walking down the street, minding my own business, I caught the eye, yes I made direct eye contact, of a security guard at a bank and he smiled warmly. That was exactly what I needed since I'd just been traumatized by that elevator fiasco. Later in the evening, some girls and I went to Borders. I was wearing my 2010 SSP shirt that reads, "Let your light shine before others" on the front. The check out guy asked if that was from the song. To which I replied, "Oh, I'm not sure. My school goes on service projects every year and these were our shirts." Then, choosing his words carefully he said, "Is that a, um, Christian college?" Yes, it is! How cool is that?

For supper, the CS staff held a catered dinner across town. I bet they do this just to make us practice using public transportation. In any case, it was yummy. We talked about wrapping up the interview process and everything that entailed. The coolest part of the night was when they had us write on a note card one joy and one concern for the semester. They collected these from everyone and put them in a bag. Then they sent the bag around and everyone picked out a random card. We were encouraged to pray for this unnamed person all semester.

Happy 1: Interviews are over! While I wasn't nervous for them, they were still uncomfortable and sometimes awkward.
Happy 2: There are many aspects of the business/finance world that I am interested in and would be successful...at, in, I'm not quite sure which word I want to use. Either way, it's a preposition and ending a sentence with a preposition is a no-no.
Crappy: I thought I knew which internship I wanted, the one at Harris Bank working with loans. However, I'm not so sure now. It was surprising to me that I liked the investments side of things. Who knew?

Tune in tomorrow to see which internship I select!