Life @ Work: Introduction

Now that I've two and a half months into my new job, I finally have the time and mood to sit down and reflect on what is happening and how and why. All my previous attempts have been half-baked, but I really, really want to sit down and sort out my thoughts and feelings about this new place, the people and the environment.

Being honest, I am grateful and happy to be here. Because compared to the junkyard that I was in back then, this place is paradise. The job is brilliant- I got to blend together finance duties and management assignments, so it's really like being back in university again. The environment is great- large office space, my own huge desk (though I'm still clueless about what to furnish in all that space), full air-conditioning and green outdoors. The people are wonderful as well. I walked with a group of what my father called 'Young Urban Professionals', which really opened a whole different world to me. They are an elite group, one which sin is subjective and not really considered, but their minds are exceptionally brilliant. And yet at the same time I'm friends with my fellow colleagues in Finance, who are more on the conservative side. In short, I walk a fine line between two worlds where good and evil are defined very differently, a grey area. 

Put all of those in together, it is an interesting mix. Everyday at work is an adventure, something new to learn, something challenging to face. I think I learned more in two months here than I ever did for a year in my last job. And here, I begin to know where I truly stood. There's so much that I haven't learned, that I have not achieved. With the friends that I have now, each day is a question of how I'm going to catch up with them. It made me think constantly about what I'm going to be in two, three years' time, because I began to have the fear of not being able to be equals with them one day.

If anyone ever question my fears, I will tell you here why: two of my closest friends at work, two guys whom I had come to know since Assessment Day, were graduates from Australia. One of them was offered a post in General Motors before he chose to come here. The other one is a GENIUS plain and simple. Super pro-active and smart, he just knew his stuff. I remember when I got my job offer, I knew in my heart that this second guy had got the job as well, because I would be shocked if he didn't and I did. 

Then there's a third guy, who made up the fourth member in our batch. He previously worked for Malaysian Airlines, and I heard that he actually got the offer to further his studies in Aviation in the UK. 

As if those aren't enough, let me tell you bout my seniors. Although technically they're all relatively younger than me, I still consider them seniors because they came into the company earlier than me and the three guys. One of them, from what I heard, was a certified MENSA member. Another has research as a hobby, and I think he's an overseas graduate as well. The third graduated from Australia while another I think used to study in the UK. And the only other Finance person in this elite group aside from me, he used to work for one of the top four audit companies in the world, and graduated from a top university in France. France!!

Intimidated yet? Cos I sure am.