I'm not a Tarheel fan, but...

...I'm about to work with and for a bunch of them.

After about two weeks of getting things sorted out at work and making sure the right parties were updated, I can finally let you all know that I will be leaving Duke at the end of April and starting a new job at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in their School of Law.  I will serve as a Career Counselor specializing in Government opportunities.  The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster in some ways, but the process also went too smoothly for me to question that this was the right next step for me. To elaborate...

I hadn't necessarily been thinking about a job change when I found out about this opening at UNC Law back in December. The position description seemed like a good fit, I liked the idea of working with a new and challenging population, and I had met the person who would be my boss there at a professional organization event and thought he was very nice.  I figured, if nothing else, it would be good to exercise my cover letter writing muscles and see how it panned out.  I hit the submit button and hoped for the best.

Two months passed and I didn't hear anything from them except that they had received my application. Since the original post indicated they wanted someone to start in January, I just assumed they found someone else and was ready to move on. They were looking for either JD's (those with law degrees) OR "advanced degree and experience" candidates, so I thought it'd be a long shot anyway. That was until I got an email in February to set up a Skype interview. I accepted, excited for the opportunity and again figuring it would be good practice. I did a lot of research ahead of time and went in nervous but with confidence.

The Skype interview went pretty well, but my interviewers were hard to read, so I told myself it was a good experience and that if I didn't get moved forward in the process I would understand and be okay. I wrote my thank you emails and enjoyed the rest of the weekend.

That Monday morning, I was pleased to receive a reply from my would-be boss saying that they wanted to bring me in for an on-site interview as soon as possible. Because of my work schedule, I told them that the first week of March was the earliest I could take off a half-day, and they put me on the calendar. Cut to a few more weeks of preparation and anticipation. But by the morning of my interview, I was ready to go.

I drove to campus, parked, and then spent the next three hours interviewing with students, staff, and members of the search committee. It was a great day and I was getting positive vibes from everyone I met. This was a turning point for me in the process, as I went from "this is a great chance to practice" to "wow, I actually really want this!"  I left that afternoon feeling mostly relieved, and like the UNC Law Career Services office would be a great fit for me. If I didn't get the offer, I would have been disappointed, but I also would have been fine and used the experience as leverage within my current situation.  Overall, I was happy with how it all went and was excited to hear back. At this point I was the third of three final candidates to interview with them, but was told the HR process would not be short.

I wrote a whole bunch of thank you emails that weekend, and then I waited. I had a few more interactions and conversations with my would-be boss until finally, at the end of the day on 3/24, I got a call letting me know they wanted to offer me the position. I was super excited, but made sure to ask to see things in writing and have a few more key questions answered before I made my decision.  After talking with a few professional mentors and critical parties, I was ready to make things official.  I verbally accepted last week and sent in my paperwork just a few days ago.

The process of telling my bosses at Duke, my coworkers, colleagues across campus, and of course my Career Ambassadors and other students has NOT been super fun, but I know it is worth it. For many reasons, I am certain this is the right choice for me and I can't wait to get started with this new chapter of my professional life.

My last day at Duke will be April 30th, then after Nathan and I take a fabulous trip to California, I will start working at UNC Law on May 14th. I'll keep you posted on how things are going in my new setting, and I'm sure there will be PLENTY of learning and adjusting to do when I get there, but most of all I'm just happy.

Thank you all for your love and support. Whether you knew it or not, you were helping me put myself first, acknowledge my strengths, and feel safe as I embarked into unknown territory and headed towards a new challenge.

People ask who I will cheer for in sports now, and my answer is, as it always will be...THE HOKIES! :) But within about a month, my working address will be a Chapel Hill one, and I'll be counseling and coaching those law school students in light blue. Wish me luck.

With love,
Samara

Birthday Month Recap

I logged in during my lunch break and was happy to see that it hadn't even been a month since I last posted! Not too shabby, compared to the last few months, haha. Not sure who keeps tabs on this blog, but I'll post an update anyway...

I lovingly refer to January as "my birthday month," since I try to stretch out the festivities as long as possible. They started the first weekend with Danny and Sherry's visit, in which I got a cool new bluetooth device and we went to Maggiano's for dinner (they have an excellent buy-one here, take-one-home-free pasta deal, if you haven't already taken advantage!).  My office also held the "January Birthdays" party that first week, so I got to enjoy an apple pie via my Birthday Buddy, Jenny, as well as some very sweet gifts.  I also go my hair cut and colored earlier this month, a treat I always try to grant myself in January.

My Birthday Month went from "me" to "we" for one special weekend in the middle -- Nathan and my 2-year wedding anniversary!  We spent the weekend eating (cooking and going out), exploring the newly renovated NC Art Museum in Raleigh, doing a tasting at Cloer Family Vineyards in Apex, and purchasing a new mattress. Since 2 years = cotton, Nathan got me a VT football jersey, and I got us some 700 thread count sheets for our new bed. Luckily our anniversary (1/16) fell on MLK Monday this year, so we got a 3-day weekend to celebrate our own special day -- yay!

The following weekend, my REAL birthday weekend, I made sure to indulge -- new restaurants, wine, sleep, etc.  One of Nate's gifts for me was a Cheese 101 class at Southern Season in Chapel Hill, which we went to this past Thursday -- so fun!

This past weekend, my mom and aunt Hilary came to visit us in NC. It was great having them in town, eating at vegan/vegetarian-friendly spots in the area, and having Hilary see our new home.  Sunday night I organized the first of many Carolina Cousins' gatherings so that the family members Nate and I have living in this area can hang out and get to see each other. There were 9 of us at dinner and it was great! Yay for having family close-by!

As you can probably guess, I didn't lose any weight this month due to my many celebratory meals, haha.  I would, however, recommend Spotted Dog in Carrboro, G2B in Durham, Lucky 32 in Cary, Peak City Grill in Apex, and both Jibarra and 18 Seaboard in Raleigh, based on my dining experiences this month!

So....clearly it's been a jam-packed month for the Reynolds Family. Both with fun activities like I mentioned above, AND plenty going on at work for both Nathan and myself. February will be pretty much just as busy, but at least it will be sprinkled with a visit from Dillon (grad school interview weekend at NC State! Woo!), another wine & cheese class at Southern Season (Valentine's gift to ourselves), and our next Carolina Cousins' outing, to Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs.

Hope you are all having a great year thus far, as well!

Hello 2012!

Nathan and I are back to work after some nice partial-weeks which I called "Winter Break Part 1" and "Winter Break Part 2." We enjoyed getting to see family, do some shopping (hoorah for new boots and jeans!), cook and eat new things, get stuff done around the house, watch movies, etc. 

January is a busy month for both of us, at work and also with lots of birthday and anniversary celebrations. A week from today we'll be spending our 2-year wedding anniversary together (hoorah for having MLK Day off!).  The past two years have gone by quickly, but they have been jam-packed with fun things like buying a house, traveling to new places, convincing some of our fave family members to move to NC, and more.  We look forward to seeing all that's ahead in the coming year!

Some things to look forward to so far include Josh moving to Raleigh (he started his job at NC State today), Dillon attending NC State's graduate school Recruitment Weekend, Suitemate Reunion in DC in April, and our big trip to California in May :).

Happy 2012!