If you are reading this, I would like to start out by thanking you for taking the time out of your day to read my thoughts. My name is Melvin Green Jr. (though I sometimes answer to Marvin or Malvin). I work at OCSS. In one sentence, my job is to serve those who served in the military. What does that look like? Something like the following:
Monday:
Mondays are for musings in my book. My day begins with a poem by Kipling, a little Sun Tzu, and "Beach Chair" by S dot Carter. Next, I brain storm ways to encourage student veterans to participate. I send emails, walk around and introduce myself to people I have yet to meet and try to build rapport. I sometimes fail at building report because sometimes I like to lead with a joke. For example, I wanted one person to adopt the moniker "Calc 3", but he was not fond of this nickname. However, I still feel like this is a good name that is deserving of a home. Any takers? I've also been told never to ask another person "How much a polar bear weighs". I am currently working on new introductions.
Tuesday:
TastyKake Tuesdays are for raising awareness about Vets 2 Vets. Typically I can be found in the commuter lounge with UMBC veteran tee shirts and some sort of snack for veteran students. I look forward to Tuesdays because of the interesting conversations that I have with student population. So far, two of the most interesting things I have learned came from a USMC veteran is teaching in Baltimore who had much to say about how respect universally understood across cultures and a Navy veteran who described to me how underwater searches are conducted.
Wednesday:
Wednesday is my favorite day of the week for two reasons: I once lost a spelling bee for misspelling this word and because of our office camel. At this point in the week I am making sure that I have met my weekly obligations as well as planned out the week ahead. This day is used for learning about those around me (time permitting). I believe it was on a Wednesday that I received a crash course on Calcutta from one of the CAs.
Thursday:
Thursday is my second favorite day of the week because the year after I lost in the spelling bee for misspelling Wednesday, I lost because I misspelled Thursday (True story!). Thursday is also the end of my work week in OCSS and is used to ensure I have tied up all loose ends. My week is deemed a success if I have met 1 new student veteran, responded to all emails, learned one thing from a co-worker, and managed to smile the entire time!
Thank you for reading!
(Photo taken from Flickr C.C. 2.0 under username arbyreed)
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