>Unrecognized.

>Do you ever feel like, no matter how hard you work at your job, proper recognition is not delivered? I know that sounds vain and maybe a little trite too, but I have been feeling that way lately.

I love my job. That has not and will not change. Working with elderly people has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done.

Let me back up to last year: I was a paraprofessional at a high school for a student who had not one, but two traumatic brain injuries. That means he sustained two injuries outside of birth and natural causes to where he had little to no short term memory, was resentful towards life and the accident, which he did remember bits and pieces of, was in foster care for a laundry list of reasons and separated from his other siblings, needed assistance with studies, tests, and school work in general, all while hating me with a dying passion. I hope someday he might see that I was a huge asset to his educational start in high school, but that may never happen. This was the most challenging thing I had ever done. This time last year, right after the new year, he was in talks of going back home and for some reason, that caused his hatred for me to grow and caused me to take my work home with me everyday, rather than every other day. I was a mess, to say the least. But I had an incredible team of teachers who were all supporting me in what I was doing and while it was hard, it was still rewarding. I am sure that experience will catch up with me once I get my teaching license someday and will, regardless, be forever grateful for the experiences I had there.

Fast forward to the here and now: I love my job. I know I already said that. But I do and it is important to repeat that because there are less than two things that could change that and I don't even know what they are.

I have been working here for over 8 months and last night was great when the big boss from corporate not only remembered who I am (he comes like, every 3 months or so...) but also realized that I had been with the company for quite some time. Awesome. That is always a good feeling with someone who manages numerous companies can start remembering employees at different branches withing 8 months of employment. This is not why I am writing this.

I want to move up. I want to show everyone here that I am not just going to be the front desk reception for the next 10 years. I have potential and need to do something more. But I will wait.

Patiently.

I came into work today at 5am because there was no night shift to cover the desk and that is when the newspapers are delivered, people wake up and walk their dogs, and other employees start arriving. Someone had to be here and since I was here last night for the fiasco that went down and since corporate is still here, it did not feel right to just say, "Oh well", sleep another 2.5 hours and come in at 8am. I will most likely be here until 4pm today. That is an 11 hour shift and while I do love my job, my body might not always agree with me.

Pray for alertness, a happy attitude, and smiles all around. Smiling is important. Even on the phone. It makes you sound happier. So I will practice those things.

But will I be recognized for coming in 3 hours early? Will someone pat me on the back? Will it earn me that golden "Employee of the Month" ticket?

Maybe, maybe not.

While it is hard for me to say that I don't care, because it really is not that big of a deal, I would be sort of lying. I want to be EOTM. Who doesn't? Either way, it does not matter. I will still love my job and still show up early because that is what I do. If others see that, great. If not, whatever. Someday, it will happen. Whether it is here or somewhere else.

My coffee is getting cold. Time for a refill. Have a splendid day.