Work Term at Scotia Capital Ends and 2005

I just finished my Fall 2005 work term at Scotia Capital as an analyst. It wasn't too bad, but I feel that I let this opportunity slip away. I should have been more active, but alas, it didn't go that way. Nonetheless, I learned many new things, and once I got used to it (actually, I never did), I realized that the work environment was very good. My immediate supervisors were Les Marton and Nicola Ray Smith. My other coworkers were Craig Woolard, Rob Murray, Robin Plume, Malcolm Kahn, Lesley Goode, Dave Iorio, Kevin Fitzgerald, Louisa Specter-Noel, Sharon Telem and Sarah Sharam. My experience at Scotia Capital was quite interesting. I remember walking into that huge room and was just shocked and awed by what I had seen. The place was busy, and full of action. It looked like a version of the trading room in that Charlie Sheen - Michael Douglas movie. My supervisor, Nicola, is a hard working, intelligent woman. The group can appropriately be described as quirky. Some of my coworkers actually throw paper balls at each other, which I thought, at first (and still think) was unpreofessional. But all that just lightened the mood. Nicola and I never really interacted too much, despite me sitting beside her. When she was silent and busy, I was silent and tried to look busy. Les, my other supervisor was quirkier than Nicola, and he would sometimes pat me in the back as if to encourage me. The job itself was not very difficult, as it involved some research and some routine stuff. I sort of was looking for something more, but it never came. I'm proabably also at fault cuz I didn't bug them to give me more challenging and more meaningful work. When Nancy Chiang, my co-op coordinator came late in the term to check up on me, she just laid it on thick when she found out that I wasn't showing enough initiative. Actually, she acted like a bitch and just hammered me again and again. After that little meeting with her, I wanted to kick her ass. I still want to kick her ass. Anyways, she was partly right. But sometimes, it's a bit difficult to be assertive and show so called initiative when you're uncomfortable with your surroundings, don't want to bother people who are (or look) busy, and don't really know what to ask or suggest. I'm the type of person who doesn't really want to bother people unless absolutely necessary, and so I do things on my own. If I don't know somethings, I find the answer on my own first. Oftentimes, during work, I did just that, and so didn't need to ask questions anymore. Then again, even if I thought I did find the answers to my questions, I didn't know how to press my other coworkers to expand on it. In other words, I don't really know how to approach them to "pick their brains". Hopefully, I am able to change that in the near future, cuz I think that's the only thing that's really preventing me from progressing the way I feel I should. Still, I want to kick Nancy's ass. That bitch. Anyways, enough about that. Hopefully, I can ask Nicola to act as my reference for future job applications.

Well, now I have to concentrate on getting into graduate school, starting the CFA program, and finishing my derivatives fundamentals course. I hope to accomplish all these things and more in 2006. Overall, 2005 was a pretty bum year. There were things I could've and should've done better. There's really no one to blame but myself. Papa and kuya's relationship also soured. So hopefully, this new year, I get to move forward, both professionally and personally, and the wounds in my family start to heal. I hope that this new year, I gain the wisdom and courage to move forward in life.