May 1997: First Full-Time Job at Information Resources

I was so excited that I had a full-time job lined up when I got my diploma.   I moved to Chicago a week after graduation from Western Michigan University and started my new job as a Retail Database Specialist.     My work station was next to Yolanda Thomas and Tony Dragel.          I took the 'El' to work.       I was so nervous about switching trains, but was so glad I had taken the route a few days before to make sure I had it down.    

Information Resources was located at 150 N. Clinton in downtown Chicago.     It was near the Metra Station.  

The original members of my team were:  Chris Blackwell, Yolanda Thomas, Tony Dragel, Wayne Onak, Jeanette Walls, Dave, and Alison Basista. A few months later Josh Bulak and Lilly Martinez joined the group.      Then, Jennifer and Ed Slivinskas started in our department.    Bryan Kerr, Don, Liz, Joe Idstein , Ceylon Hayes, and Crystal Cooper were the last members to begin in our group. Right before I left, Ian Stevens and Darren Hobson were transferred into our group, along with several others.    

This was the best group of people to work with.  We had so much fun together after work.    We went out for lunches to celebrate birthdays and went out occasionally after work.      

My position was to work on running reports and fixing the data for different grocery store item categories.  Each of us had a group of retailer accounts that we worked on.    We had to use the Unix system to run the reports.     On the weekends, we were on a rotational schedule and were responsible for monitoring the systems.   There were some weekends where I would spend 8 hours on Saturdays and 4 hours on Sundays working.     We didn't get paid for the weekend work, as we were salaried.  Some time later, we got paid a small amount for our weekend work which was really nice.

Our company had flex schedules, as well as every other Friday off, if we put in an extra hour Monday-Thursday each week.  I was on that schedule which was so nice for me, as I took the train home many weekends over the 4 years that I worked in Chicago.      

May 1, 1997: Moving to Chicago

My goal was to have a full-time job lined up when I got my diploma from Western Michigan University.   In fact, just a few days after graduation, I was packing up to move to Chicago.      My first full-time job was at Information Resources at 150 N. Clinton in Chicago.

My friends, Deyoung Yap and Fontrise, came with my Mom and I to Chicago a few weeks prior to look at apartments. I fell in love with the studio apartment at 1030 N. Dearborn.   I was on the 2nd floor in a 325 sq. ft apartment that had recently been renovated.      I paid $595/month.

My Mom and Aunt Charlene came to help me move in.  I was able to fill 2 cars full of my stuff.      When we got to my new apartment in Chicago, I had no furniture. I had to order a couch and kitchen table and chairs.     I had a small TV and my computer that I brought with me, along with my clothes.   

When we got to the apartment, we went inside and thought we had the wrong apartment as it looked so small.  We asked the lady at the front desk and she said that was the correct one.   I guess we had forgotten how small it was.       

The first night, Charlene, my  Mom and I slept on the hardwood floor which was so uncomfortable.  I bought a cheap swimming raft and slept on that for about the first 2 weeks I lived in Chicago.   

I will never forget my Mom and Charlene leaving to go home and here I was in this big city all alone.  I wanted to run after their car and go home.

I bought a couch at Jennifer Convertibles and had a major problem with the delivery.    The company stopped at my apartment, but no one was in the office, so they left after 5 minutes. Then, they wanted to charge me an additional delivery fee and I was so mad, so I cancelled the whole order. I ended up losing 20% of my money, which made me even more mad.    So, I went to Marshall Field's and ordered a creme colored sleeper sofa for about $600.     

The apartment complex turned off the heat on April 1st, so I had no heat in May.   My mom ended up having to ship my electric blanket to me so I would not freeze at night.      

I was so happy when Shawn Young, whom I met in college in Phi Chi Theta, called me about a week after moving to Chicago.   She was such a blessing.   Shawn and I hung out all the time in Chicago.  She only lived about a block away from me.   I know that God was watching over me.