Every other Wednesday is System Migration Project Meeting Day at KCLS. These meetings have been happening since the spring, but I wasn't able to attend them until June because I had class on Wednesday afternoons. I started going to the meetings as soon as I could, and I would go so far as to say that my presence at the last couple of meetings was essential — a big claim for an employee whose job title still says Intern.
But I still wasn't in any of the project documentation; no responsibilities were formally assigned to me in the migration process. I have important responsibilities, but my name wasn't in the project. That changed today, when Kathy assigned me to be in charge of a very important part of the data migration. Seeing my name on that page is so much more than a task assignment; it means that I am official.
Speaking of being an intern, that status is something I'm kind of battling, even in ITS. Last summer some staff members moved a large noisy printer into my cubicle without asking me; I didn't argue because, well, I was just an intern, and to be honest I wasn't using all of my desk space anyway. (The paper and such that gets left around is more of a problem.) Then a few weeks ago someone stuck a large plastic bin in one of my drawers, which I keep empty because it's where I stick my backpack to keep it out of sight when I'm at work. Excuse me? That's my cubicle you're invading.
I can't help but think that whoever put that bin in my drawer didn't get the memo. They wouldn't do that to anyone else's cube, but they don't see that cubicle as my space. I'm actually not so bothered by the cubicle issue, since I have enough space otherwise, but it does bug me that someone thinks I'm that inconsequential. Moreover, who else is similarly misguided, and what effect does this have on my interactions with them and on the efficacy of my work?
Everyone I work with regularly knows what I do and how well I do it, so I don't worry about them, but what about everyone else?
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