As I was thinking about my week and brainstorming blog topics, I realized there was way too much that happened this week and I couldn’t pick just one to focus on. But then I realized they all had something in common and that is that I had a ton of fun at work this week and I really enjoy what I do! And this is something I’ve said a lot since I started this blog: you have to love what you do, or work is going to feel just like that. Work.

So, what made work so fun this week you may be wondering? Well, I’ll tell you! It started on Tuesday with the annual Weld-off held on campus. We had almost 300 high school kids from around the state come to campus to put their welding skills to the test and compete against each other. Since we couldn’t fit that many kids in the welding shop all at once, we toured them to other departments on campus as well. I helped to guide around a group to the different programs all day and it was actually pretty cool to see how excited they all were.

And then because a couple of us helped all day with it, the welding instructors offered to teach us how to weld on Wednesday! I was so excited to get to try it and it was actually pretty awesome. It’s harder than it looks, but I was starting to get the hang of it by the end. The students at the weld-off had to make a toolbox as their project, so we got to make one too and bring it home. I had to go visit Dan at work over his lunch hour to show him because I was awfully proud of myself for learning something new!

Also on Wednesday, I had my last Campus Activities Board (CAB) meeting for the semester. Since activities are basically wrapped up now, we had more of a little Christmas party than an actual meeting. We exchanged gifts, we all brought snacks, and we played some games for the duration of the meeting. It was actually super fun to sit down and unwind with these students for a little while. For some of them, this was their break from schoolwork for the day, and you could tell they had a blast. This is one part of my job that I love. I’m glad I’m able to provide some fun for these students and it means a lot when you can actually see them relax and allow themselves to not worry about their work for a little while.

On Thursday, we had my FAVORITE event: Pet Away Stress! Over the lunch hour, we had about 14 pets scattered throughout the entrance of the student center for students to come pet and snuggle with. I think they like it as much as I do! There were so many students who told me some of the dogs reminded them of their dogs at home and it made their day to get to come play with some puppies. It was truly an awesome day.

And finally, Friday we had our staff Christmas party! I was on the party planning committee this year, so I helped to set up the event center room for the greater part of the afternoon in preparation for the event. Since we didn’t have a huge Christmas party last year due to Covid, this was the first one I really got to be a part of with LATC. AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Even though I worked most of it, I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in a long time. I could have sworn I was going to lose my voice as well haha! We played games, ate good food, and put our trivia to the test with trivia pursuit. I was helping to correct answer sheets, so I didn’t actually play, but the amount of bribes us judges got in hopes they would get some extra points was too funny! It was just overall a really, really fun night. 🙂

This week was a long, busy week, and I definitely didn’t get out of bed this morning until almost 11 because I was so exhausted, but man it was fun. This is how I’ve always hoped it would be like working in the real world. I may not always like my job, but for the most part, I do have a lot of fun with it, and my co-workers are some of the coolest people I’ve ever had the chance to meet. They make this job fun and some days it doesn’t even feel like work! That’s how it should be!! Surround yourself with good people and something you enjoy doing and you’ll never have to “work” a day in your life.

Keep having fun everyone!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger