Progress

I've recently updated my resume, my contact at RightEverywhere has approved my revisions, and now I'm ready to start filling out applications.  The real trick is determining which companies to apply for.

When I was still going to Texas Tech, I interned with Eastman Chemical Company.  The experience was pretty good as far as internships go.  I had a nice apartment, rent was more-than-reasonable, and my job wasn't very stressful at all.  My objectives were a little vague, but I was working on a complicated project so I didn't expect everything to be crystal clear.  That's how life works, I suppose.  After my internship, I received an offer to work for Eastman full time after graduation.  I jumped on the opportunity since Longview was relatively close to home and I already had experience in the plant.

My career at Eastman was full of ups and downs, but I'm glad I was able to have those experiences.  I got a better idea of what I like doing and what I don't like doing, and now I need to use that knowledge when I go looking for my next job.

On a different note, I've submitted an article to hobbizine.com and I'm waiting to see if it's been accepted or not. I'm also waiting to see if my last batch of articles for wiseGEEK passed.  If those articles pass, I'll only have to write one more test batch!  If that works, I'll be able to write as many articles as I can stomach!  Fingers crossed...

New Start

Before starting this blog, I spent a lot of time thinking about my previous blogs and their eventual fates.  I used to do a lot of writing and the theme of my posts would change as often as the weather did (which, for a Texas native, means that they changed all the time) and I was never very happy with the way things turned out.  I've abandoned previous projects for various reasons - some of my posts were a little too emotional, some were highly unprofessional, etc.  The reason I'm starting this blog is to lock in the kind of writing that I can be proud of.  This is a great way to start out on the right foot and establish myself in a professional community.

During my search for a new chemical engineering job, I began writing freelance articles for various blogs and websites and so far, I love it!  Freelance writing has afforded me with a lot of freedom and the extra pay isn't bad at all.  I'm currently in the testing phase for wiseGEEK and I hope to hear their evaluation soon.  It's exciting to know that my work could be published!

Eventually, I'd like to use my experience as a freelance writer to work on even bigger projects.  I've always felt that writing nonfiction was my strong suit, but I'd like to take a shot at fiction some day.  I once tried writing a book for NaNoWriMo, but that didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  Turns out, it helps if your story actually goes somewhere.  Who knew?

As for this blog... I would like to keep the content of this blog relevant to my writing in engineering, mathematical, and scientific subjects.  I like presenting information and teaching these subjects and this medium is perfect for doing that.