In trying to describe myself, I have difficulties between the words introverted and extroverted. Neither really seems to work. When I’m in a situation or surrounded with people I know and am comfortable with, I can be extremely extroverted. But with people I am unfamiliar with or merely acquainted with, my shyness tends to dominate. I become the sit-and-listen type.
The author in one of her favorite spots on campus.
And then at Pegasus I was asked to go interview the new director of the Oglethorpe Museum of Art to write an article for the Carillon.
Ah.
Well, there’s something to be said for a can-do attitude and knowing that it is your job to do something. When I was interning for the Atlanta Press Club I had to do an inordinate amount of phone calling, all to people I had never met, never laid eyes on. Well, I can tell you that I used to have a phone phobia. Emphasis on the word ‘used’. That was pretty much nipped in the bud by the third week. When you have a list of 300 people you have to telephone and you only have so much time to do it in, you can’t exactly wallow in self pity about how terrified you are of the receiver.
So I made a couple of emails and hiked myself up to the museum. This was to be the first interview I’d ever conducted, so I was pretty nervous on top of all else. I think I get caught up in how I should present myself, as if the first-impression I make is life or death. There is much to be said in a first impression, but if your fear of your first impression makes you so nervous as to mess up your first impression, I think the priorities are crossed somewhere. Aren’t you supposed to just ‘be yourself’? Granted, the more professional, organized, succinct side of yourself, but yourself nonetheless. I digress.
The location itself wasn’t new to me, having been to OUMA many times before, but the director, Elizabeth Peterson, was, and I’ll admit I was gripping my cell phone (at the time acting as my voice recorder) pretty tightly. Luckily it suffered no permanent damage. I initially had some trouble finding out where I needed to go, because the museum is closed on Mondays. Guess when my meeting was? Monday. Oh dear…so I wandered back and forth between librarians, trying to find my way up. One finally called the offices up there for me and I was let in. They had to turn on the elevator for me. I would have felt quite privileged if I hadn’t felt so flustered.
Elizabeth Peterson immediately set me at ease with her friendly attitude and her laid-back demeanor. We essentially just chatted for an hour and a half, with me occasionally resetting my recorder or asking a question. I would have never guessed an interview could be so, well—fun! The hard part had already been done, by writing up what general questions I had to get around to during the interview. The interview itself was like getting to know a new friend. We wandered the museum, talking about the new show, her plans for the future, her goals, her past jobs and experiences, and how those all connected. We even discussed the possibility of fondue.
So, interview—conquered. It did not manage to get the best of me, and I think the best of me was really engaged by it. Every project I’ve had the privilege of working on so far with Pegasus has had that affect.
What? You can feel engaged and fulfilled at your job? Who’d have known? ; )
