My (Potential) New Job

I am graduating in 3 weeks, so lately I have been on the hunt for a job. I went to the career fair last week, have been looking at online job postings, doing a lot of different things to try and find one. I have submitted my resume to who knows how many companies, and as of right now, have 2 solid leads. 1 at Verizon Wireless, which I am not too enthusiastic about, but don't want to discard just yet, and the other at Reynolds & Reynolds, a technology provider for car dealerships. I heard about them and applied for a position through Oregonlive.com's job search, and they contacted me when they looked at my resume.

I had a phone interview with R&R today, which consisted of a very short overview of my resume and some standard questions. Then I was e-mailed a bunch of (digital) paperwork to do, which took me all of 2 hours. Yeah, it was great. But I got that done, sent it all back, and should hear from them later on this week.

The position is titled "Solutions Specialist", and what that means is that I would be a sort of liaison between the company and its Northwest clients on how to best use the technology, be more efficient, increase profits, etc. It sounds like a lot of fun, something that I would be very interested in, and something I would think I would be good at. However, the slight hitch came when they told me about the training program.

It's a 6 month training course, 5 months of which are in Houston, TX. The last month would be in Omaha, NE. I would be paid a salary equal to what I will be making when the training is finished, and an apartment would be provided for me. That in itself makes the situation a whole lot more bearable. But, one thing that it still doesn't remedy: the fact that I would be away from family, friends, and everything I know, and thrust into a place I know nothing about. It's not that I couldn't handle it, it's just... what the hell would I do there?

So I was looking around today for stuff in Houston and the outlying areas, and came across a small museum nearby. Now, Hayley's dad, for those that don't know, is a history buff beyond the meaning of the term. So whenever I'm with him, he'll throw out these interesting facts about anything, quiz me about history, etc., and I'll be totally clueless. One of the things I didn't learn in school was history. But it still interests me a lot, and a buddy of mine is actually majoring in it, which makes me that much more interested. So naturally, in Houston, near the Texas - Mexico border, there's a lot of history.



The museum is called the Stark Museum of Art, and it's located in Orange, TX, not more than 2 hours from Houston. Just about as far as Eugene is from Portland actually. The museum is part of the Stark Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life in Southeast Texas by encouraging, promoting and assisting education, the arts, etc. The museum explores the art of the American West. Now, I've taken a few art history classes, or what seemed to be even if they weren't titles as such, and it's cool to see art in other cultures. But this is America people! And I know nothing about it. How dare I! They have many different collections including Western Art, American Indian Art, Decorative Arts, and Rare Books and Manuscripts. Sounds like a place I could get my learning on.

So, if I do get the job, decide to accept, and assuming I don't make any friends in Houston, I'll probably make the trip to Orange, TX. Maybe you can come out and visit me? I'll buy the ticket if I really get desperate.