Her Own Wings

Liz Goes to Chicago

She had been working for advertising agency for about a year, when she was given a promotion and tasked with creating and maintaining the database that housed all the clients, their executives, contact information, former and current campaigns and which employees had or currently were working with each company. Anything that happened with any client was stored some way in the database that she needed to create, populate and manage. She knew how to use computers, even though they were still relatively new to the average office worker. She was very savvy, and learned computer programs easily. However, this was a major project, and she would need to work with the database designers to get it exactly right so it could be upgraded and added to as needed. She would also need to attend some specific training seminars for the database she'd be using.
She put the last item in her suitcase for her trip to Chicago in the morning, zipped it closed and put her suitcase on the floor. She lay on her bed and stretched out. She closed her eyes, and remembered the big pow wow she and her grandparents had when she was trying to decide whether to take the job. They went back and forth for hours. Ultimately, she and her grandparents decided that it would be best for her, and her new career, for her to take the job. She was so glad she did. She loved the people she worked with, and continued to learn more and more about databases. She had been sent to a couple training sessions to improve her skills. She received an amazing promotion recently, and had been given more responsibility. Now, in the morning, she prepared to head to Chicago for three weeks of intense training in the new database she was going to be designing and managing. She knew she was going to have two weeks of intense training, then a week working with a database specialist, Jack Lewis. She had been told that Mr. Lewis was a younger man, a few years out of college, and quickly becoming one of the lead guys in database design and security.

She walked into the house from her garage bedroom for dinner.

"Mmm, Grandma, this smells delicious!"
"Oh, thank you. What time do you need to be at the airport in the morning?"

"My flight leaves at seven, so I should be there around six. I think I'll call a cab so I don't wake you up."

"Nonsense. I'll get up and drive you. You want to leave around 5:15?"

"Thanks Grandpa, yes, that sounds good. I'm already packed and ready to go. I have everything, so I'll just put it by the back door after dinner and my shower."

"Great, I'll get it in the truck in the morning. Now, let's eat dinner."

After dinner, she got a shower and went to bed. She tossed and turned for hours, unable to get to sleep. She had been looking forward to this trip since her boss first asked her if she had any interest. She remembered that she wanted to grab her boss by the jacket, shake him, and yell, 'Are you insane! Of course I want to go!' However, she actually replied, 'Yes, I would be very interested in the opportunity.' Liz then contacted the corporate travel agent, and worked out the details. Now, in a few short hours, she would be flying to Chicago for a three week training and database design session. She really didn't know what to expect.

The company paid for her airfare, food and lodging for the entire time. The first two weeks, she was in hands on training sessions all day learning how to use the database. It was wonderful. She lost herself in learning how the program worked, and she saw all the possibilities of how it could be implemented for her advertising firm. She was excited by what she was learning, and all the possibilities for career advancement. She stayed late each day to continue learning on her own, until the trainer had to kick her out of the building.
After the two weeks training session ended, she was by no means an expert, but she felt she had a solid groundwork in how to use the software, and how the database would work most effectively. She'd been jotting notes every evening over the last two weeks, and adding and crossing out ideas furiously.
Over the weekend after the training ended, she went to the company's main headquarters and used a computer to type a report detailing how she best saw the database setup, and how she thought it could be set up to easily be expanded in the future. She reviewed her notes, and made a final few revisions, and felt she had a solid plan in place.