Learning new wor(l)ds

Salary with benefits. Submitting claims. Taxable benefits.

In my first week at my first big-girl non-student job I was overwhelmed by all of these terms. I’m used to being paid by the hour and being under my parents’ insurance, so what’s all this? My signature is needed? Do I even have dependents?

Well, here’s my first piece of advice – don’t be afraid to ask. I don’t know about you, but forms – official ones – make me really anxious. Especially government ones… not that my work forms were government-related (except for a few)… but anyway, when I have to fill out my social insurance number or banking information or anything along those lines – I panic. I feel like I’m in trouble for some reason. I managed to work my way through most of the forms, but when I got to the health and dental insurance ones, I froze. I’d never filled out anything like that before.

So I thought about it… why don’t I just ask the woman in the Finance office that I’m submitting this to? Nobody would expect me to understand this… so I emailed her and she happily filled out the form with me. She explained each step, helped me fill it out correctly, and there you go! I left her office feeling satisfied, comfortable, and pleased. Hopefully the next time I get a form like that, I’ll know what to do. If not, I’ll know that there’s no harm in asking.

Here’s my story.

My name is Maeve and I am about to be a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University. I say "about" because my convocation is at the end of October, but I'm done all my courses, I've got the right number of credits, and LORIS tells me I'm "Qualified to Graudate". So at this point there's no more essays, it's just a matter of time...

I started at Laurier in September of 2005. It seems like ages ago that my parents pulled into the Conrad Hall parking lot and I (and my stuff) was dragged up to my dorm room by excited icebreakers. Thankfully it sort of was ages ago, because the bangs I was rocking back then were rough times. But I digress... I spent over 5 years at Laurier; 11 school terms as a student, 10 terms as a student employee (including 3 summers working full-time), and countless hours of volunteer work with countless groups and services on campus. Needless to say, I soaked in the whole university experience...

Anyway, this blog isn't about my time at Laurier - it's about my Life after WLU. I did soak in the whole university experience, but now I'm done. I'm done with my undergrad, I'm done with school (for now), and I'm starting a brand new life. That's what I want to share with you - my life after Laurier. My trials, my tribulations, my successes, my upsets, what I love about my new life, and what I miss about my old one.

Whatever I'm going through, you're gonna hear about it. I hope you enjoy!