#9 work

At this point in my life, I am struggling with what specific career path I want to choose. My heart is divided between becoming a sports psychologist or a developmental psychologist. I find them both equally interesting. I'm a big sports enthusiast and as a sports psychologist I would be able to work with athletes to reach their full potential. On the other hand, I think it's so cool to study how we change as the years pass, how we take on the different stages in life. Whichever path I choose to take I know I will have to learn and adapt to what is required of me.

All I know is I am taking short but efficient steps towards reaching my goals. I am very close to obtaining my psychology degree and looking to get involved in anything that will help me in the future.

Even though my current job doesn't have much to do with psychology, I believe it's an important stepping stone to get to where I want to be. Working for the Ymca has given me the opportunity to try several hats on. I work the front desk where I have to be very attentive to members and always be willing to help with a smile on. I've worked as a wellness coach always keeping a winning attitude and helping out members with our machines and how to perform exercises. I've worked summer camp which gave me the opportunity to work and interact with children from various ages. And I've been a soccer coach, my favorite.

This job is indirectly giving me experience and tools that I can apply to a psychology related job. Networking has also been very useful in the company. I've gotten to know directors and heads of departments which I know will be useful. Recently, a new opportunity has been presented. The company is looking to hire behavior support specialists to help children with autism or behavioral issues. This is strongly related to psychology so it can be another step toward reaching my goals.

#8 Service workers

Being a waitress or a waiter is definitely not an easy job. It's very fast paced and needs careful attention to detail. The ability to multitask is a must.

I've never had a restaurant job and I would honestly like to keep it that way. I'm not trying to disrespect anyone or look down on restaurant staff, I just don't think I would be able to handle it. It's just not for everyone, especially waiting tables.

Good waiters and waitresses have to be very well prepared. There are so many things they have to know and remember. Knowing the menu from top to bottom is a must. Also, knowing the basics on how the food is cooked is a plus. My dad is that special costumer who always has a million questions before making his decision on what he will order. He's always impressed when the waiter knows what he's doing.

It's also pretty interesting how waiters and waitresses have to constantly change the way they talk and how they communicate. they have to be warm and patient with costumers. They need to use "normal" conversation skills to present their product. When they write out the order or go tell a chef what he or she will need to cook this changes. They're part of the same discourse community within the restaurant so they use their own slang and abbreviations.

Peter Drucker claims that workers in service jobs such as waiters can't be considered "knowledge workers." I find this a bit insulting and condescending. Maybe one doesn't go to college to be able to wait tables, but that doesn't mean the job doesn't require a vast amount of knowledge.

My current job is basically all costumer service. It may seem like anyone can do it, after all, the main part of the job is to keep the costumer happy and answer questions. It's not easy. Not everyone can do it. I've seen co-workers come and go because they can't get the hang of it. The truth is you have to be trained properly to be successful. Costumers expect us to answer any question they have so we have to be ready and know as much about our company as possible. In fact, we constantly have to go to trainings ranging from information about special events to how to communicate more efficiently with our costumers.

Cost of Affiliation

Navigating between the way I'm expected to be at home with my family, at work, and at school can be exhausting. Each of the three seem to have pretty different discourse communities.

When I'm at home, my siblings and I are expected to be warm and loving towards each other and our parents. We use simple language to communicate whatever we're feeling or anything that's going through our minds. We've always been encouraged to talk about our problems and find ways to help each other.

At work, I'm expected to be quick and efficient with everything I do. Working in a gym environment makes almost everything be goal oriented. If I'm helping a client sign up for membership, I have to explain everything he or she will be will be able to use. The trickiest part is convincing potential clients they will reach their goals. Some are just interested in general health, some are interested in bulking up, and others are interested in losing weight. Whatever their goal is, I need to know and use regular gym terms such as the names of the machines they can use or the name of exercises they will need to perform.

At school, I have to switch my mindset yet again. I'm expected to be part of an academic discourse community. Being an undergraduate student in the science department requires writing research papers for my classes. I have to follow delicate guidelines for my papers to be graded. The language I use has to be academic which is far too different from the type of language I have to use at home or work.

In "Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice," professor Ann M Johns discusses how students are pushed into joining an academic discourse community. I agree with this. I think being required to take a certain amount of writing classes in order to graduate, regardless of a student's major, is an example of how we're pushed into this discourse community. I don't see it as a bad thing, I just see it as a way of scholars telling students "you need to write this way if you want to be a part of us."

On a daily basis, I have to navigate between these three discourse communities. Sometimes it's complicated to adjust. I have to really let go of two to really focus on one, but that's just the cost of affiliation.