I mentioned in my last post that I was offered a job as a teachers assistant. I’m really excited about the job, and also very excited to be leaving my previous job, but the hiring process is intense.
That said I think it’s probably a good thing that it’s an intense process, after all I am going to be working with children, and really it wouldn’t be so crazy except they want me to start in less than a week, so everything is rushed. Anyway, let me go over the process with you. First I get a call from the school and a lady tells me that they’ve sent me an e-mail with a link of things I need to do before I can start, and that some of it has to be completed within 48 hours. I tell her that I’d have it done by the end of the night. The part that had to be within 48 hours was pretty routine; agree to this document, fill out this tax statement sort of things. But also in the email was a PDF file which told me that I needed to go to the school districts central office and let them make a copy of: my drivers license, social security card, health examination certificates, and college transcripts.
So I immediately get online and order a copy of my college transcripts, which they charge me $30 for, and start looking into where I can get the health exam done. The thing is, I havn’t been to a doctor in a long time, there is no ‘family doctor’ that has all my records and can make time to see me, but luckily I’m right down the road from a sisters of mercy urgent care, and they say that they can do it. I got that done this morning (another $110 for that), but I still don’t have any proof of immunization, and they had to do a test for Tuberculosis.
Lets stop for a second so I can tell you how scary the test for tuberculosis is. They take some kind of fluid, and inject it just under your skin. It forms a bump on your arm and they tell you, “Come back in two days and if the bump is gone we know you don’t have it, if it’s still there or has grown then we have to measure it.” I’m pretty darn sure that I don’t have TB, but I can’t help but glance down at this bump on my arm every few minutes and speculate over it’s size versus the last time I looked.
Now back to immunization. In theory, my parents have all the records of all the shots I’ve ever received, but I’m willing to bet that only god knows where they are. However I remember having to get some shots before I went to college, so I call up the college health department and ask them about it. Sure enough, they have my stuff on record! They ask me what college I’d like to send it to. “Oh.. well, actually I was wondering if you could send it to me? I got this new job and they need to make a copy.” Nope, can’t do that. They tell me that if I fill out a medical release form then I can come by and pick it up in person. As I am three states away from there, that’s a no-go. Eventually the girl that I was talking to decides to help me out. “We can’t send it to a personal fax number” she tells me, “but if you got me the number of the schools office then I could send it there, but even then it would have to be our little secret.” Now we’re getting somewhere. I let her know that I have to call the school to get the fax number, and she tells me to ask for her when I call back. Two phone calls later a complete stranger is going out of her way and probably risking her job for me. Why? Maybe I have a sexy voice or something. All I know is that it made things work! Now I’ve almost got everything in order, I just have to wait for Saturday so they can tell me I don’t have TB. So thank you undergraduate-girl-on-the-phone-at-the-college-health-desk, you also have a sexy voice.
