Ramble on, Rose.

This weekend was a big one for me, personally.

Saturday I turned 26. While I love a good party and understand how much fun birthdays can be, I prefer to downplay my own. Let's be real, there's not much I did to get there.

I lied. I'm actually 116!

But it was a pleasant day: I woke up with no alarm to a sunny day, danced around the house with my parents' pups, and had a wonderful homemade dinner with my mom, dad, and grandparents. I even celebrated from afar as my favorite city Siena had their own celebration!

Sunday, however, I woke up real early and was out the door by 7. My lovely Mom, my cheerleader in all things, joined me off of Main Street to see me off on another crazy challenge: my first triathlon!

The Ramblin' Rose event, a triathlon for women only, tours North Carolina through the race season annually. The first leg is a 225 yard swim, or 10 laps in the pool at the local YWCA. The wait to get to the pool was brutal but I was glad to meet some other participants to take out some of the pre-race jitters. I didn't practice in a traditional length pool so wasn't too sure how fast I was going into it, but ended up at my target.

Next up is the 8 mile bike course, which consisted of 2 laps of 4 miles each. This part was easily the most challenging, not only because I didn't train on the bike (I had to borrow one and got it too late), but also because of the brutal hills, which from observation I can say were horrible for everyone. The worst part was knowing what was coming the second time around. Then, on the big ascent for the second time, my chain came off the gears. After a pit stop, I finished it off the monster calling to mind all the things I lived through that I would qualify as worse than cycling up that hill two times.

Downhills were nice, but they seemed to disappear far too quickly. Yet I couldn't help but laugh, whizzing down the hill at a break neck speed, that in the cemetery I already passed several times, there was a headstone for a person named "Self." Ignoring the fact that I nearly face planted my dismount, I moved into my final transition. 

Finally, there's the 2 mile run. My calves were fairly tight when I moved into this phase (think: jelly legs). Knowing I was nearly at then end, I did my best to enjoy the final leg. But the whole time, there were strangers on the path with me being encouraging who I could encourage too. Half the beauty of this race is the feeling of "You go, girl!" that is inherent to it.

With a few days perspective, I'm honestly very proud.

I got through it all. I swam, biked, and ran the whole distance. Not one bit of slacking the whole time. I walked away that day sure I had given it all that I had. While I know I could've trained better, you can't always be 100% prepared. I'm happy with my performance and have plenty of room to improve.

But the race was full of all kinds of people, not just the typical athlete type. Some women were real athletes and there to compete, but it was inspiring to see so many people be active and doing something different. I hope they use this race as a portal for regular fitness in their lives.

Yet it wasn't just shapes and sizes that varied. The oldest competitor was 77 (!!!) and the youngest was 10. I met, befriended, and cheered on one girl, turning 11 in November, who originally planned to race with her mom. She did the whole thing on her own!

I spent much of the race looking around and imagining myself changing and meeting my own goals, both fitness and not, as I move into my 30s, as a professional, as a partner, and even at 77.

Here's to another year full of uphills and down, pit stops, friends, goals, and accomplishments! Thanks for being along for the ride.

On Getting Things Done and Being Good Enough

Lately I've been interning with the Career Services office at the master's program from which I just graduated. If you can put aside the laughable irony, it's been a pretty neat gig for someone looking for a full-time position. I sit through these sessions a year later, much more prepared to market myself and am reminded of the best lessons I was too scrambled to retain last year.

But let's be real here: the job search is a struggle. I've not met many people who really have fun finding a new job. I feel lucky to have been exposed to such wonderful services and people willing to help me along the way, but it still isn't easy.

After graduating from Meredith in 2010, I wasn't quite sure what I should be doing and where I was going. Plus things were still pretty rough in the job market. I felt like finding a job was a full-time job and I easily got exhausted and burnt out from all the work and, eventually, the rejections--or worse, the silence!

So when I eventually made it to Fuqua as a student, I stumbled into one of the greatest career search sessions that shook up things.

Steve Dalton, the current Program Director for Daytime MBA Career Services, showed up and convinced me that he gets it. From his work with other students struggling to do everything right and coming up short, he developed an easy to follow system that breaks down the biggest difficulties associated with finding a job: making a LAMP list.

LAMP is an acronym and the 4 steps of Dalton's system:

Step 1: List. List out companies you know of or come across where you're searching.
Step 2: Advocates/Alumni. Using LinkedIn, find people you know connected to your companies. The closer, the better.
Step 3: Motivation. How badly do you want to work for them?
Step 4: Position. Do they have any openings you could fill right now?

After Dalton's presentation, I bought his book The 2-Hour Job Search and read it over my winter break. Dalton takes all the uncertainty out of the job search and reminds you, it's just about getting things done and being good enough. When the recruiters and employers know you're there, it makes things easier on them. Their time is valuable so the less work they need to put into finding someone to join their team, the faster they can move on to other things.

Now that I'm working on my own LAMP list, I feel it's a whole lot easier to stay focused and to settle all the doubts.

Full disclosure: No one paid me for this post. I genuinely believe in and recommend Dalton's ideas and book. Need proof?

Finally excited to get back on the job search path thanks to @Dalton_Steve and his #2HJS! Thanks so much!
— Samantha Cibelli (@samanthacibelli) August 13, 2013

Bring me back!

I'm back from a month of vacation, well rested and dreaming about the next time I can go back to Europe. When I scheduled my tickets, I thought a month seemed like a long time, but as always, it was so full that the time flew by and after two weeks, I was already evaluating how I might be able to extend my stay. But here I am, back in ol' NC and I want to share some of the highlights from my vacation to remember living after grad school. To edit the list, because I could go on forever, since my mini-trips worked themselves out like this, I limited myself to highlighting the B's from it all. Buon viaggio!

From one of my manual shift driving lessons with Anna & Ermelindo.

• Breath taking views. In case you didn't know, G lives in Tuscany, where they forget what beauty looks like because it's everywhere around them. I missed the greenest greens of the hills when it was rainy but got to see the green change into gold. On the bus route to the city or out on the country roads, like where I practiced driving (shifting gears is TONS more work), these hills are better than the movies.

• Bologna. I decided I wanted to take a trip alone. Solo travel is a really exciting way to see a new place. 

Bologna's Two Towers. The one in the foreground is actually leaning!

But it doesn't hurt when the city is gorgeous and the food is fantastic! I even got to catch up with my friend Megan from my Fulbright cohort who gave me all the best tips about what to do and where to eat (SUPER imperative) and made a new North Carolina friend at the hostel where I was staying. How does that song go again...?

• Buds. It's always wonderful visiting friends, especially since you don't get to see that often. My time in Italy is full of reunions of this type, whether it's over a dinner with lively conversation, on a stroll through the streets, or sitting side-by-side on the couch, I've learned that it's really my people make the place home. This time I was also visited by one of my very best friends, Filippo. It had been two years since I had seen him last. For offering a bed in his kitchen, I was happy to return the favor.

•  Bold patriotism. Out of curiosity, G and I went to the US Cemetery in Florence the day I flew in. We had talked about it several times, and I'm glad we went then. There couldn't have been more than 4 people there with us and we were really able to soak in the space and pay respect for the lives given. But I returned about a week later with Filippo for the Memorial Day service. The ceremony was done in both English and Italian, there were veterans and active service members from both countries, and even the US Ambassador came from Rome. For such an important day, it was uplifting to see so many people, Americans and Italians alike, honoring the service members to which we owe so much.  

Zia Sam with Sofia--I'm in love.

• Basketball: After I shared the Cameron Crazie experience with G in Durham, he wanted me to see what it's like to be an Italian fan in the curva. I arrived at the beginning of the playoffs and Mens Sana, Siena's team, was ranked #2. We went to the first game together and I returned with some friends for the third. I think an average Crazie would feel pretty comfortable in the middle of the biggest fans--as long as they learned the songs. All four quarters are non-stop cheers, on your feet, for your team with big flags and a drum to keep time. You can see a couple videos here. Mens Sana made it through that series and the quarter finals, and are currently playing their hearts out in the finals against the team from Milan, owned by the fashion mummy designer Giorgio Armani. Did I mention that Mens Sana is going bankrupt after the season? Only in Italy. Forza Mens Sana!

•  BABIES! I saw three newborns in a month and it was heaven! Sean, Sofia, and Samuele. They were all between 3-8 weeks when I visited so it was glorious.

• Budapest. 

This city was one of the most wonderful places I have ever been. It was beautiful, full of history, and a place where you can eat and drink well for sure! If you like art nouveau architecture as much as we do, you certainly won't get bored simply walking around this city! Although we are told it wasn't hot, I was thrilled to finally pull out my shorts and G didn't mind the fountains much.

Plus we met friends, old and new, which always makes traveling the best! Not to mention I knocked off another goal from my bucket list!

• Baths. Budapest is known for its Turkish baths. We went to two and they certainly didn't disappoint.I was surprised how refreshing the 30°C/86°F water was after a day in the sun. But I also redeemed my Christmas present from G and we went to some in Tuscany. Considering how rarely I get to go to a place like that, I certainly had my fill of rejuvenating waters.

• Belly full of food. Culture, art, love, whatever. Don't listen to any of that. The reason you go to Italy is for the food. On this trip--who am I kidding?! Every trip I eat my weight in cheese, olive oil, and the artichokes. But really. Artichokes.

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Professional Sponge

Now that I’m no longer a student (again), I’m on a campaign: Operation Employable.

I believe that my internet presence, including this blog, plays a central role in my professional identity, so why not share my movements towards starting a career here?

I’ve learned a lot in my personal development since I started working on it as a part of my identity. Some of this growth has come from attending lectures, reading voraciously, or talking to professionals. I’m constantly sponging up information and I’m certain that there’s someone interested, whether you’re interested in your own development or you’d really like to give me a job. Yes, you!

But in all seriousness, I have come across some insights I’d like to share and some others that I want to explore.

So I wanted to start the Operation Employable series by sharing the ways that I’ve started collecting and making sense of all this information.

Being a writer of sorts, I used a gift my generous mom left me as we set up my apartment in Duke: a journal. Being a person that loves technology as much as I do, I still have a thing for old-school journals. I currently have three journals, but only one is dedicated solely to career development. My handwriting is a modified cursive and I find that the movement my hand makes generates ideas. Sometimes I sketch out plans or flow charts. I always bring it to a lecture or a coffee chat, so I can write notes but still stay an active listener. While it’s not as easy as turning to a search bar to find old notes, I date and title every event and jot down inspiring quotes or great advice in it.

See, I can be professional!

When I’m not writing, I’m often reading and non-fiction development is a hot genre for me these days. I keep up with what I’m reading and other recommendations with my Goodreads account. If you haven’t heard of Goodreads, it’s a social networking site for avid readers that sends great recommendations and opens up conversation for bookworms. You can organize the books however you like on virtual shelves and I have one just for my development books that way I don’t forget titles when I’m ready for a new read.

I also read a lot of articles I enjoy on the interwebs and if there's one I think I can get something out of later, I save it. I’ve gotten some friendly chiding for it, but I created a board on Pinterest devoted to business related topics of videos or articles that are interesting. Sometimes I review them before an interview or keep them handy to send to others when I inevitably talk about how cool such-and-such is that I read about the other day....

So far these are working for me, but I'm always looking for different ideas. I’m wondering if there’s anything else that I’m missing that might be helpful to collect ideas. Do you have some different methods I might use? Do you have some recommendations I should add to my reading list?

Master's: Complete

I'm alive and have returned to the blogging. I actually never stopped, but the venue was different because I was in grad school, y'all. And guess what? I graduated...!

This past weekend was full of celebrations and Pomp & Circumstance. It's remarkable how I got to Fuqua and eventually settled into its rhythms, but they pull out the stops and surprise me on my way out, complete with ice sculptures and chocolate cherubs. Speaking of surprises, the most wonderful one came in the form of my dear friend Deanne who I met in Italy, flying all the way from Canada, after coordinating with my mother, to attend my graduation.

So even though I've been very absent on this blog, I'd like to reopen the pathway now that there's no more finance or accounting to study. Now that I can return to the hours of a non-student, as the studying schedule was much harsher this time around. Now that I can pursue all kinds of activities, goals, thoughts, and desires that had to be put on hold (not excluding my 25 Before 25, which is desperately in need of a new name now that I'm knocking on 26).

To reinaugurate this blog, I'd like to do a lessons learned post for my 10 month stint as a graduate student in Durham:

• Doing a power pose before big presentations helps, but only in the secrecy of your home or a bathroom stall. Otherwise it's just embarrassing.
• They might not be graded, but soft skills matter.
• You must have empathy and patience to begin to understand another. I have a lot of road to cover on this one.
• Test grades aren't always the best judgment of learning.
• You don't know your limits until you've met them.
• Learning is a process that is determined by the amount of effort you put into it. It has no limits of time or subject.
• Do the right thing always.
• I am not a self-sustaining entity. It takes a community to get through all kinds of situations. Community takes time and effort to grow.
• Love it or hate it, Cameron Indoor is a special place.
• Failure is an opportunity for exploration and innovation.
• You can't always find the time, but making a good, home cooked meal heals, grows, and inspires. Totally worth it.
• It's all relative.

I don't quite know what's coming up next yet (besides a month in Italy where I sit writing this very post while looking over the Tuscan hills), but rest assured you'll be taken along for the ride.