another excerpt of my writing...

hey, i just remembered another time that i was published online. as i began my freshman year at spu (1999), i discovered that the temp service for which i'd been working offered a small academic scholarship. cool, i thought, i'm a shoe-in. and that wasn't cockiness: my high school transcript was impressive, i met the employment criteria, and, from what i'd seen, the other temps tended to be esl workers or unemployed corporate types, not aspiring undergraduates. but then i skimmed the application's essay prompt and groaned: write some nonsense about how your time at nwstaffing (for you money-seekers, it appears that they now offer 4 scholarships) has prepared you for excellence. because i had an honest streak, i found it rather challenging to describe my days at the artificial crab packing plant, tire company, and fabric store as particularly inspiring, but somehow i managed to win the cash. the cute photo and this euphemistic quote appeared on their website:

"...Perhaps the biggest advantage to working through a service is this unique ability to test a variety of job scenarios. As an agent of NWStaffing, I have gained experience I would otherwise lack. Temporary work has served as a measuring stick with which to gauge my skills. Hidden talents such as interviewing complete strangers, evaluating customer service, data entry, coding, grunt work and other business-like tools have sprouted during my employment. In addition to learning my strengths, my time as a temp has also exposed me to areas that would not necessarily fit my interests. This is especially important as I begin to plan my college major and intended profession."

ha! thanks again, nwstaffing, for helping to suppliment about 0.25% of my tuition.