Senator Michael Frerichs Office Week Seventeen

Week Seventeen:

Monday May 10^th, 2010:

PERSONAL DAY: FIANCE’S GRANDFATHER FUNERAL- BELLEVUE, MICHIGAN

Tuesday May 11^th, 2010:

SICK LEAVE: MCKINLEY HEALTH CENTER DIAGNOSIS: SINUS INFECTION

Wednesday May 12^th, 2010:

SICK LEAVE: MCKINLEY HEALTH CENTER DIAGNOSIS: SINUS INFECTION

Thursday May 13^th, 2010:

Due to a series of personal days accompanied by a short sick leave I have returned to the office to a firm list of tasks to complete.

The local newspapers which the office receives on a daily basis as should be expected began to form a considerable stack on the back counter due to my absence. As I still did not feel 100% this morning I began my time in the office clipping newspapers and preparing “Saw You in the News” clippings for later mailing.

The remainder of the day I had composed an appropriate response to the series of emails which littered the inbox with concern and opposition to “Pension Holidays”.

Intermittent constituent phone calls and daily mail sorting served as an effort to halt any and all progress which I was making on these tasks.

Friday May 14^th, 2010:

I came into the office this morning and first logged onto my email account and saw a reply from Mardia Bishop of the Communications Department regarding the COMM 101 TA position. The email simply stated that although my resume depicts admirable accomplishments, others are better qualified to fill the position. The stress related to finding a TA or RA position continues to mount and this morning it exceeded my ability to cope. The uncertainty of my academic future which undoubtedly is spurred by the University of Illinois and State of Illinois budget crisis is overwhelming.

I decided to take an early lunch in an effort to calm myself. I organized a meeting with Dr. Greco at which we discussed the current situation at length and possible solutions. I asked Laurie thereafter if I could have the remainder of the afternoon off to call around to different departments to seek out any available positions and she obliged as she is certainly aware of the importance this issue holds with concern to my education.