So lately I've been basically on hold, waiting for a phone call so that I can get a job. I've been sort of hired by Express Professionals, an employment service that, with any hope, can get me a job as a teaching assistant in a local charter high school. I called them yesterday and they told me that the school really liked my resume, so I think I'm pretty high in the running, but of course, as with the whole Lego thing, I don't want to get my hopes up too much.
What? Apparently I hadn't mentioned the Lego thing yet, so allow me to explain. Earlier this year, Legoland Carlsbad announced rather discreetly that they were holding a competition to hire new model builders. I came across this ad on craigslist, so I meekly applied, thinking, "pfft, I probably won't hear back, but it sure would be cool to work at Legoland!"
Lo and behold, I get a call. Apparently my resume and portfolio made it past the initial slew of applicants to get into the semi-finals, held on June 24th. Later I heard that there were 150 prospective applicants for the semi-finals that they were looking at, not to mention the hundreds that probably applied initially and were cut outright for whatever reason. Anyway, I think to myself, cool, but now what? Well, I had to go and compete with a toymaker, another architect, and several other smart and funny folks who I got to know during the team competition, and had a grand old time.
Let me explain. There were two sessions of the semi-finals with 12 contestants during the morning, and 12 in the afternoon, although one person didn't show up to the afternoon session, the one I was in. I also heard later that one old guy showed up for the morning session, couldn't succeed in the first test, and just left. We were all ushered into the Human Resources building at Legoland and corralled into a conference room. We were each seated at a table with a base plate and a box of bricks. The semi-final itself was split into three parts: the copy and build portion where we were given a Lego sea horse and asked to copy it with the parts in the box, the team build where we had to scale up a Lego person into a larger version in bricks, and then an individual free build where we were given access to many bricks, and then had to build anything we wanted. I built a lizard-chicken. We were also given a free ticket to Legoland, which I have yet to use because no one wants to come with me.
Afterward, we're sent home, and promised that we will be called that very night by 6PM to see if we made it to the finals the next day.
It's 6:30pm, and I've pretty much given up hope, and packing my bag to go to Will's house. Then suddenly I get a call: I've made it into the finals!
So I do a bit of research for the next gig, which is basically a two hour competition to build something related to the new Dune Raiders attraction. Also, as a bonus for getting into the finals, we're given a tour of the design building which is out in the business park, a little bit away from the Legoland park itself. There were TONS of bricks and accessories, I almost had a Lego-gasm. I say almost, because I'm not into Lego as much as I used to be, which was probably a big factor in my losing the finals. But more on that later.
After the tour of the design facility, we were interviewed one by one by the HR folks and other designers. I should say now that there were 18 of us who made it back into the finals from the 22 from the semi-finals, so there really wasn't that much of a cut. So during the morning when we first arrived, half of us stayed behind in the HR building to be interviewed, and half of us went on the tour.
So after all that, we were taken to the park itself to have lunch, which was rather nice, and then we also had a little bit of free time to explore the park. I made friends with Daverick, a guy who also visits Pair-a-Dice Games, David, a guy living in Temecula who has a young daughter and an immense love for Lego, and some other people whose names I've forgotten but I remember their faces. It was a strange and surreal two days, but somehow, I didn't feel like it was a really cutthroat competition. We were all helping each other, even during the competition.
Anyway, so after chilling in the park a bit, we're taken to the Dune Raiders section, where I quickly come to realize that a) the competition is publicly viewed, and b) there's media from the local TV and newspapers. I freak out a little bit; I didn't think this was that important. Part of that pressure, on top of looking around me and seeing people with amazing Lego designs while mine was... not so great, I just faltered at the end. I did my best, don't get me wrong, I tried, but I think I realized about an hour into the two-hour competition under the hot California sun that I probably didn't have that high of a chance of beating all these talented folks. I still kept hope though, and continued on.
I wanted to point out one thing. Before the competition even began, we had an hour to search for the bricks we would need for our design. We were all helping each other out, giving people bricks that we didn't need but someone else needed, helping each other find things, and general all around friendliness. It was a very nice, very camaraderie sort of atmosphere, and that helped take some of the edge off.
So in the end, when I didn't get chosen as one of the nine lucky winners, I still didn't feel too bitter or sad by it. David, who really needed the job, got one of the positions, and I slapped him on the back and told him it was great, and that his daughter and friends would be really jealous of him because he gets to play with bricks all day. I was actually happy for him, and that was a good feeling, to be so positive about the experience even though I didn't win. Sure, I was a little disappointed, but I still felt good about the whole thing. It was definitely a fun and fantastic experience that few have had, and I feel lucky to have participated. Besides, I made it into the finals completely blind and not knowing that this was a NATIONWIDE search. So I feel a little proud about that.
Anyway.
The whole reason behind this post was that I wanted to say that I can feel myself going back to the creative part of me, the art, the writing, and even the gaming. I've started playing Kingdom Hearts, I've actually started a sketch in my sketchbook, and I'm thinking about writing a blog for
That Guy With The Glasses. Of course, I should be high-powering the job hunt, but considering I've been rather busy the first two months with wedding planning and job hunting, I haven't had time for a real break yet. There's always been stuff on my mind, even when I was hanging out with friends.
But I've called the caterers and got a good chunk of details, I've got my dress picked out, purchased, and now I'm exercising and eating right so I can fit properly into the Chinese dress (I apparently filled out a little bit during finals), and I've sent out invitations. Now I need to figure out decorations, build the centerpieces, figure out sound and other electronic logistics, and probably a few other things that I can't really think of at the moment. But things seem to be going alright, and I want some time to relax and let me muse slowly, ever so slowly, come back to life.
I still want to write that fiction book, I still want to improve my art style. Once I get a job, I think my muse will finally crawl out of its hole, because then everything will be set.
I'll probably do some more job hunting next week. This week is pretty much more wedding planning, and then I'm going to Palm Springs with Sharon on Thursday night, to return Sunday night. A mini-vacation might help my brain a bit.
Wow, I haven't written that much in a LONG time. Hopefully I'll blog a little more often now.
Labels: Life
