My journey to Apex
Written by: Ann Clemmitt
Many people might tell you that graduating college and trying to find a job is the most stressful thing one can do, next to having kids of course. All I can say is they are right! It has been an absolute whirlwind for the last 5 months as I’ve finished up school and gone through some major life events.
In January I was in the middle of an internship at MSLI in OEM and saying goodbye to my fiancé, Patt, who will be deployed for the next year. February was a balancing act between 25 hours of work and 7 classes (yes I said 7). For those of you who aren’t familiar with UNR’s credit load, 4 classes is equivalent to 12 credits and is full time so I was almost considered double time And for the record I would not recommend taking that many classes in your last semester as an under grad. Although I didn’t end my undergraduate career with a 4.0 I’m not ashamed to say I had a 3.2.
March was crazy with my internship wrapping up and preparations for the Miss Rodeo Nevada pageant. I was very stressed out because I hadn’t found an FTE role with MSLI and I put myself under a lot of pressure. Ironically enough it wasn’t until my last week as an intern that I reached out to Kurt and told him my situation. I was working in the PMO in OEM and really enjoyed that type of work but I had no success in finding any company that was interested in hiring a junior PM with less than one year of experience. He was kind enough to set up an interview for my last day, April 1st. I had such a good interview with the Apex team that I was actually late to my going away party that my OEM team had thrown me. Luckily they forgave my tardiness when I explained my reason.
It was also at this time that my fiancés grandparents in Colorado passed away suddenly and I was needed back there. So I got on a plane that night and spent the next week in Colorado with Patt’s family. In case that’s not enough for one person to handle, the funerals were also the week of the Miss Rodeo Nevada pageant. The pageant was held in Las Vegas so I flew home from Colorado, packed my bags and jumped on a plane to Las Vegas. While in Vegas I competed against 2 other girls while being judged on our personality, appearance, horsemanship ability, photogenic, and public speaking ability. We had personal interviews with the judges, answered impromptu questions and gave an impromptu speech at a luncheon, gave a 2 minutes memorized speech on the stages of Freemont Street, and rode 2 horses that we’d never been on before through patterns. It was a jam packed weekend and at the end of it my hard work paid off. I’m proud to say I won the categories of Horsemanship, Appearance, Personality, and Written Test; and brought home the title of Miss Rodeo Nevada.
When I got home I had another interview with the Apex team and it was then that they offered me a PM role. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I’m glad to say I couldn’t have gotten luckier. Imagine my apprehension though when I discovered that I would need A LOT of time off over the next year to travel as part of my duties as Miss Rodeo Nevada and I needed to tell Kurt… da da duh…. Luckily he was very supportive! I’m looking forward to the ride of a lifetime this year and can enjoy my time knowing that I work for the best company! Until next time…
Happy Trails,
Ann
