From janitor to...whatever I feel like doing

I said quite a bit in my last blog post (as I tend to always do), and one of the big takeaways that I received the most feedback/inquiries about is when I mentioned becoming a janitor and making $18,000 at 26 years of age. I remember telling my friends about my new position, and their facial expressions and/or non-verbal responses could be summed up as as a combination of “have you lost your mind” and “is something wrong?” Unbeknownst to them, me taking on the position was not only the beginning of a lot going RIGHT for me, but a testament to the importance of ambition and resiliency that I would be able to share for the rest of my life.  Prior to taking the housekeeping position at MD Anderson, I worked three different jobs—all part time. One thing about most part time jobs is that if you aren’t a full time employee, you are ineligible for health insurance. The car accident that I’d recently had and was hospitalized for, the dental work that needed to be done, and the eye glasses I wore which were held together by duct tape and super glue all screamed YOU NEED INSURANCE. On top of that, I wanted to find one job that could potentially take me places rather than working three that could lead me to a dead-end. I had experience on my resume and was about five months away from obtaining my Associate of Arts, so I figured hey, I'll be able to find something! My friend Nicole sent me several entry-level positions at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and I eagerly applied for most of them and waited to be scheduled for an interview. Weeks turned into a months, and I had yet to hear back from anyone. I went back to the drawing board (job website), and I applied for another position that I’d previously overlooked because the others were more appealing. The pay wasn't listed, but it seemed like a job that I’d have no problem fulfilling (building attendant), so I applied for all the openings they had, and guess what? I received a call to schedule an interview that very same week.  I arrived at the interview wearing black slacks and a crisp blazer. I made sure to look like a young professional should. Within minutes of the being interviewed, however, I realized I was overdressed and that there was a reason as to why the job description was so vague. The hiring manager began showing me multiple photos ranging from a “caution-wet floor” sign to a picture of a toilet filled with tissue paper. “What would I do if you saw this?,” she asked. "Are there thousands of options for a toilet with with paper?," I sarcastically thought to myself. “Flush it?” was all I could think to say. This had to be a joke. It wasn’t a joke, and guess what? I got the job; one I never wanted in the first place. 

$18,000 a year. I’d be making $1500 a month at age 26. $1500 a month with bills that surpassed $1500 a month. $1500 month with an associates degree (I’d graduated two days prior to starting the job). I could either continue working my three benefits-less jobs and hope for something to come my way, or I could be me--a woman with patience, optimism and most of all--drive. "I’m going to get into this company, start from the bottom and work my way up within six months.” That is EXACTLY what I told myself. What I didn’t know was that I would have to wait a year in order to do so. “They just changed that policy,” my new manager had said. I had to wait.  After two months of scrubbing toilets and patient rooms, cleaning blood and skin off of beds, mopping floors, being ignored by pretty much every doctor and nurse I came across (janitors were pretty much ignored as a whole), and becoming accustomed to wearing my big, dark green janitor’s uniform and pushing around a cart and mop for eight hours a day, the employee who normally worked the housekeeping front desk did not show up. Being that I had two years worth of college under my belt (which was uncommon in the housekeeping department) and displayed a cheerful and positive disposition daily, I was asked to fill in for her at the desk. That was in July. I’m not sure why she eventually got fired, but I began working the desk daily as a temporary fill-in. Long story short, the position became mine in February 2014. I was promoted within nine months which was not standard policy at the company. Is it, however, a testament to how anything is obtainable with hard work and drive. It is a testament to MY standard of not settling and accepting “no” as the final answer.  I was still working at the hospital the day I got the call stating that I was offered three English teacher positions in 2017. I immediately logged into my work dashboard, found my compensation history and took a picture of my salary progression shown (shown below) as a reminder of where I started versus where I ended and that I can go as far as I want. After all, even studying to pass my teacher certification exam was done while caring for our newborn daughter before, during and after work. The multiple interviews I attended for teaching positions across town all took place BEFORE my 10 a.m. shift at the hospital. I didn't let having a job stop me from getting a new one. Faith, hard work, self-confidence, ambition, determination and resiliency were, and still are, a recipe for my success. If you want to bring success into your life, remember that remarkable results come simply from traits within you.