salience

So it's done, I'm officially twenty one and I don't feel any different ya'll. :) It was weird, I have to admit, it being Father's Day and my birthday again... But especially this year. Things are happening, well ending really, I guess. And it's my life so it's what I know, but it's still a quick electric shock when I see other families together in public. Laughing, smiling. My family is still my familia, and for the most part I try not to think about it. It is what it is and that's what I have. Broken, separated, call it what you want. La mama is back to using her maiden name and we're choosing sides. Crazy--I never thought this would happen to the "Suarez Six Pack." It's a weird place to be. You're taught all of your life, and you know from the experience of moving twenty three times, that familia is the really only true constant in your life. And then it breathes and then shudders and before you know it, fault lines decades old surface and the landscape forever changes.

As selfish as it sounds I'm glad to be in Boston, away from where it's all happening. I have my own life here at BC, and it's liberating, staying in Boston and not having to return to Alpharetta to live for the summer. And to a similar extent, I know el hermano's happy to be doing football camps and the like. We're both seniors this year, him in high school and me at BC. And it's weird to think, at his senior night, he'll only have one parent standing with him on the field. Will la mama see me as drum major at BC?? Will she come to the Big Event?? How will graduations work?? El hermano will be a Milton alum one week after I reach BC alum status. But I guess we'll cross those roads when we get there.

My birthday was nice though, and immensely flattering. I got to talk to almost everyone I wanted to, and my presents were a ton of fun to enjoy. Alex showered me with so much stuff, my birthday was more like a birthweek thanks to him. He even surprised me with a beautiful necklace, took me to dinner at Top of the Hub, the restaurant at the top of the Pru. And it was cool--getting all dressed up and going out for a fancy dinner. I felt grown up and important, especially with our witty, foreign, bald waiter, so I made a point to seize my now twenty one opportunity and order a shirley temple. :)

I'm working two jobs now. One with Rafanelli for party set up and take down. It's the same company Alex's sister works for, the one she kinda helped to start, so it's neat, meeting everyone who knows alex so well. This past Saturday we (Alex & I) set up and took down a party for United Way, which was all decked out fun at the Westin downtown. It reminds me a lot of BC Catering, but only of all the better perks... Like the free stuff and... Yeah, that's about it. :) I'm also working as an intern for Ascend, an investment consultant company. They're relatively young, only been doing business for about two years, but the guys running it have been doing business together since the early nineties. Their, our, office is in Waltham, MA, about twenty minutes north of Chestnut Hill. The office park is really suave, near a resevoir--it used to be prime real estate during the dot com boom, but now it's relatively cheap and available. (Ironic how it's right down the road from where we had all those trainings for CWP.)

I found out about the job through the BC Career Center, and contrary to popular belief, they really did help me out. So let that be a lesson--if you actually know what you need, but act like you want guidance, those day care smiles right behind 90 STM off Comm Ave can help you. What attracted me to it is the small size of the company. I really wanted to work somewhere where I could have something of my own to work on, something to show for the time I would spend, you know?? Basically I wanted to avoid the Office Space reality check--GE looks great on my resume, but I had no connection to ABE after I left last August. This job is not only for the summer, but also part time throughout the year.

Ascend, as stated previously, is investment consulting, and my project focuses on ITG, or IT Governance. Basically the team I'm a part of focuses on convincing people that technology is so integral to business that it should be made a cornerstone of any corporation. I'm to launch and continue a campaign that targets smaller corporations from Ascend's current top business, mainly dealings with Fidelity and JPMorganChase. The partners all have a keen interest in NYC, calling it "downtown" and even working a deal to merge the technologies of SmithBarney and Solomon, which is amazing. I met the girls, Turkish twins who went to UMass, who are responsible for that part of the project under Fidelity, and it was so exciting. That's exactly what I would love to do--work with traders and the floor staff on Wall Street--but indirectly. It's nice to be held accountable for something--a reason which justifies my huge cubicle and top speed laptop. I may only be hire forty two, but I have the opportunity to make a lasting mark with a successful company in the field I want to pursue after I graduate. It's pretty enthralling stuff--cool how things always happen for a reason.

And that's the thought I'm focusing on...