Why I Love My Work - Every Employee Every Community Hours

It's been a while since I've had a Why I Love My Work entry, but today was a good reminder to make one.  I started this series because wanted to write about the things I love about my work.  Reminders of the positive, the blessings we have in life, the things to be truly grateful for.  And there are many, many reasons why I love what I do right now and the company that I work for.  Here I'd like to focus on one benefit of working for such a large company.

One of these benefits is the community oriented focus the company can have.  At Level 2, I previously headed the charitable giving initiative, running the nomination process within the company, so that employees could nominate worthy causes for grant funding awarded annually.

At Cummins, the focus is more on direct involvement.  While the company does make substantial financial donations, they also work to enable every employee to be able to volunteer and donate their time in their community.  One such way is through EEEC hours or Every Employee Every Community hours.  Put succinctly, the company allows and encourages and enables every employee to do four hours of community service each year on the clock during their working hours.

This means you can and are encouraged to find a place to volunteer and it will be factored in as a part of your day.  It's not something you have to find time for in your off time.  And Cummins also has a list of organizations and opportunities to partner with.  

Today, I took part in a volunteer organization I've taken part in for the past two years, teaching technology literacy to fifth graders at a local elementary school. We teach editing a presentation using copy, paste, rotate, and resize.  Creating a folder and moving documents within it.  Internet safety.  Making screen shots and snippets.  Using spreadsheets and other computer tools.

The past two years were virtual and this year we finally got to get back in the classroom.  It went so much smoother.  We were able to keep their attention and get them all involved in working through the practice steps.  

It was truly a wonderful experience and I'm glad to be a part of it.  I'm glad Cummins provides me this opportunity - because otherwise, I don't know if I would have found it.  I don't know that I would have chosen it for myself if it wasn't presented as an option through the company. 

It's something small, at least in terms of all the work I do for Cummins.  But I am ever grateful for it.

Why I Love My Work - Cummins Diversity Choir

I haven't written much about my work, for a variety of reasons.  But similar to how I have had a Why I Love My Church series, I wanted to write about why I love my work.  Reminders of the positive, the blessings we have in life, the things to be truly grateful for.  And there are many, many reasons why I love what I do right now and the company that I work for.  Here I'd like to focus on one benefit of working for such a large company.

Live music has been one of the hardest hit areas in this pandemic.  The rules on social distancing shut down many venues for a long time, choral singing proved to be one of the easiest ways to spread the disease, and opportunities to sing in public became fewer and far between.  Especially as part of any ensemble.

Late last year, I discovered that Cummins has a choir based in Columbus, Indiana.  The choir was pulled together as part of Cummins emphasis on diversity.  It was a way for people from diverse backgrounds to share in a common language and experience - music.  The choir had been performing right up to February 2020, but had stopped rehearsals and performances because of the pandemic.  

I was able to "join" the choir virtually and participate in a handful of Zoom sessions to get to know the choir members over the final months of last year.  Video conferencing is great for face to face communication, but terrible for music as there is not an easy way to counter the overlapping audio feeds.  So, while I was able to join, I was not yet able to sing with them.

Thankfully, with the improvements that were made in June and July, we were able to gather together to rehearse once again. We even were able to plan for a performance.  On August 28, the choir was able to perform at the Chinese Cultural Expo in Columbus.  It felt like everything was really getting back on track.

I can't tell you how good it was to be able to sing chorally again.  My most recent opportunities have been as part of smaller ensembles, like praise teams, or solo.  I love and appreciate these as well, and will be writing about getting to be a part of the praise team at our current church.  

Choral singing uses different muscles, though.  It's listening more closely to the intonation and pitch of those singing the same part as you.  It's balancing your voice with the others in your part.  Listening for the balance of the other vocal parts to make sure the blend of the whole ensemble comes through.  Keeping a close eye out for the conductor to ensure you are in time and don't miss an entrance or hold out a fermata too long.

Coming out of every rehearsal it made me dive into all my Broadway and classical music.  To want to just belt and sing for the rafters.

I forgot how much I missed it.

We are shut down once again, as the Covid cases increase around us and as Cummins' restrictions on indoor activity have once again been implemented.  But I am hopeful that this will be a shorter hiatus.  

I'm hopeful we are turning the corner with this virus.  That those stragglers and most ardent anti-vaxxers are coming around and will receive the vaccine (or will be forced to get the vaccine).  That maybe we can stop politicizing masks and do what we can to care for our neighbors around us.

I'm hopeful.  Maybe naively, but hopeful.

And I'm looking forward to singing again.

 

One Year of Change

My first photo in Indiana

It's amazing what all happens in a year.

One year ago today, I started this new journey - my new job at Cummins, my new home in Indiana, and not far removed from an adjustment to work-from-home life.  March 9, 2020, I got to go into the office, to meet all my coworkers and to start getting adjusted to this new life.

Jamie and the kids had not come up yet.  They would wait another week so Jamie could spend a little more time, see Wills Point's OneAct, and stay through her mom's birthday.  Splitting it also allowed us to drive both cars up.  I drove up first, would fly back and leave my car at the airport.  Then would drive back with Jamie the next week.  

For this first week in Indiana, I stayed at a Stay Alfred apartment just a few blocks away from the airport.  Got to walk downtown Indy for a bit, past Soldiers and Sailors Monument every day, and generally get to know the city.  Everything was still open at this point.

When we brought up Jamie and the kids, everything closed down.  Work from home and Zoom training.  We still didn't have a house at this point and spent a month in an AirBNB in Old Northside.  

In the months since, we've found out home to rent and have settled in very well.  We've found our hometown here in Brownsburg.  We've met and made friends with neighbors.  We've found our church and developed deep friendships with members of our church and our small group.

We've seen family and friends come up to visit, and we've shared a lot of good food we've found, and the aspects of this life we've come to love.  The trails and the walkability of the town.  The great bakeries.  Snow and sledding.  

We've laughed a lot, we've cried some, we've been stretched and we've grown a lot this year.  We've started our adoption journey, and have a lot a plans a head to travel when everything is open.

It's been a year of change and it has felt like a decade, but it has been a great year.

I can't wait to see what is ahead.

Mitchuation Update - Hoosiers

Now to the celebratory part.

In the previous update and request for prayers about the job search, I relayed how we were excited about three opportunities.  One in Austin as an eDiscovery Consultant Manager, one remote as an eDiscovery Project Manager, and one in Indianapolis as an in-house eDiscovery and Information Manager.

The interviews and discussions all went well, and over the last couple of weeks, our future finally started to come into shape.

If you had asked us to plot the trajectory of our lives, we were most excited about both the remote position and the one in Austin.  The remote position would allow us to pick somewhere in Dallas to live, included the potential for travel, and kept us relatively close to all family.  The Austin position had great benefits, would allow us to be closer to my family for a while, and would have been something squarely in my experience.  The position in Indianapolis was exciting, but also a little terrifying.  Beyond the distance, it is a bit outside my realm of experience.

I think you see where this is going.  Man makes plans, God laughs.

Slowly, His plan for us became clearer.  The position in Austin disappeared; the company decided to completely restructure and offered me a chance to start the process over for a position at a $30K pay cut.  Thank you, but no.

The remote position became consistently less stable.  It would be a greater leap of faith.

All the while, the position in Indianapolis kept progressing.  Through it all, the company treated me very well.  The people I met were incredible.  And the opportunity became too good to pass up.  I got an interview with the Vice President and General Counsel.  Was told that I was the top candidate.  Heard from the recruiter saying they desired to move forward.  All the while waited, somewhat impatiently to get an offer.

We got the offer last Friday.  It was better than I could have anticipated and will include some relocation assistance.  I accepted immediately.

So, starting March 9, I will be the new eDiscovery and Information Management Specialist for Cummins Inc.  Right now, we're going through the pre-employment paperwork and processing, and are getting the last bit of our stuff altogether in one place for the move.  Thankfully it's mostly all boxed already, so that's not going to be too big of an issue.

We've begun web research for houses, for churches, for locations and are really getting excited.  We're going to be Hoosiers.  The first time really that either one of us have lived out of the state of Texas for a considerable period of time.  A lot of new places to explore and visit.  An opportunity for me to connect to a bit of family heritage and see where my dad's dad was from.

It's really funny and humbling to think how we got here.  From Jamie becoming depressed and unsettled teaching the fall semester of 2018, reaching the point where she decided to take time off to homeschool Avalyn and Jude for a season.  From being fired last June.  Moving in with my in-laws.  From taking a spur of the moment side-trip to Indianapolis and Franklin, IN on our family road trip last July.  From living out of boxes for the past nine months.  From the temp job that picks up right after the road trip.  To the next temp job that starts immediately after that.  And so on and so forth.

Everything that was necessary to get us to the point where we were able and ready to just pickup, and go.  To go where He tells us to go.

We have seen His hand of provision in incredible ways through this period.  We have struggled with patience, with frustration, and with depression.  We have also been closer to family.  Enjoyed time together and a lot of flexibility to just pickup and go.

It's been an incredible journey so far and I can't wait to see what this new chapter brings.

To everyone that has prayed for us, laughed with us, cried with us through this season, thank you.  You are family and we will carry you with us no matter where we go.  We're looking to get a large place up there, so if you ever have the itch to travel north, come up and see us.  We'd love to have you.

We're going to try and cram as much as we can in these coming weeks, so we hope we get to catch up with as many of you as possible.  If we don't, please know that we love you, we'll miss you, and we look forward to seeing you again.

I will be continuing to write this blog, and hopefully on a more consistent basis as I continue to improve.  And will definitely keep updating you on the move, the new place, and on the life up there.

Stan Lee always closed his musings with the word "Excelsior!"  He claimed he saw it in old English material and liked it, so he started using it as a sign off.  He probably also saw it on some of the tunnels in New York as it is the official motto of the state of New York.  It translates to "ever upward" and I think sums up a good bit about this journey.  Let us run with endurance the race set before us, ever upward.

Excelsior!