13 March, 2017

MN Monday #5 - The Y Way

When I left grad school, I was completely burned out on academics.  I'd been in school for 21 years straight and, combined with my frustrating experience getting my masters degree, I was well and truly DONE.

So done, in fact, that I decided that my brain had gotten too much of my attention so far and I needed to switch directions completely and go whole hog into music (more on the implications of that some other time...).   But I knew that I'd need to be able to pay bills and such while I made a go of music. So I started looking around for something to do as a "day job."

Thus began my 3+ years at the YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis.  I applied for an landed a job as an administrative assistant at the Downtown Minneapolis branch supporting the Executive Director.  It was a decent job that paid a decent salary.  We were still living in Loring Park at the time and it was only a 15 minute walk to work (gods above and below, I miss that commute...). And best of all, when I left work I left everything at work.  It wasn't particularly difficult work but learning new things about the non-profit sector made it interesting.

Only a few months into my position, the Director of Administrative Services (DAS), moved away.  And she wasn't replaced right away.  So, the relatively cushy admin asst. job I'd been in suddenly expanded to include all of the other administrative functions that needed to continue at the branch.  I learned how to do all the things that needed doing and, though not the DAS, functioned as one for the better part of a year.

When Robin came on board as DAS, it was almost immediately clear to me that she was going to be one of my favorite people in the world.  I still call her BossLady because 1) she's awesome and 2) she knows what she's doing.  :)  Since she and I both came from "outside" the Y, we had perspectives on how to get stuff done that no one there had given much thought to.  Together we made big strides at dragging the Downtown branch into the 21st century kicking and screaming.  Since I knew how to do everything we were able to redistribute the administrative work between the two of us so that it happened better, faster, and more efficiently.  I had a lot of fun working with her.

Robin is the reason I stayed at the Y as long as I did.  I had many friends who passed through the organization but people tended to burn brightly and the burn out around that place.  It's the nature of "mission driven" work as far as I'm concerned.  I had started realizing about a two years in that I wasn't going to be happy at the Y long-term.  With time and distance, I knew that I belonged in academia.  How to get back in was the question.

I eventually made it and have been happily ensconced ever since.  But I value all the things I learned and so many of the people that I met working at the Y.  It was a good thing and I'm grateful for the it.  But I'm so happy not to have to answer the phone like this anymore.

"Thanks for calling the Downtown Minneapolis YMCA, where we build strong kids, strong families, and strong communities.  This is John, how can I help you."

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