May 28th marks 5 years working at Georgia-Pacific. 5 years since I moved to a tiny Oklahoma town to begin my first Big Girl Job. 5 years since I walked into the GP Fletcher site with my freshly bought steel toed boots that my dad went with me to buy from Walmart. 5 years since I first met Casey Hobbs and knew immediately that I wanted her to be my mentor (and my friend. She was (and is) the coolest!!)
5 years of moving around the country. 5 years of meeting the most intelligent and talented workers. 5 years of realizing hey, they didn't include THIS in the textbook. 5 years of thinking about the wild book I could write about my experiences. 5 years of learning about people and how quirky they are. 5 years of being lifted up by my colleagues when I felt that I wasn't good enough, smart enough, or experienced enough. 5 years of wage proposals, PBM classes, technical training, SOP creation, qualifications, etc, etc, etc. 5 years of getting to know some pretty wonderful people, like Janet Carroll, who took a chance on me and believed in me when I didn't, and Scott Yerger, who continues to help me grow and learn and teaches me something new every day, while putting my name in for new experiences constantly.
It's really hard to put into words your feelings. How do I actually put down how grateful I am to have gotten to start my career with this company and these people? It's a feeling, it doesn't belong in words. But I'm trying my best because I want my network to know that these 5 years have been phenomenal. I haven't just learned about the job, I've learned about myself. If you met me 5 years ago, I don't think it's a stretch to say I am a different person now, and I think a lot of people would agree. I love getting to grow with GP.
If you have been a part of my 5 years, thank you so much. And I'm looking forward to the next 5.
Principal Technical Writer (API & Developer Docs, Docs-as-Code) | Management & Strategy | Author of Halfway There: Lessons at Midlife | Good Human
4moAlso, RIP my inbox. 😂