Well, folks, the moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! After many longs days and nights and afternoons and everything in between, we’re finally here.
And what moment are we all gathered in anxious anticipation for?
In case the title of this post didn’t tip you off, I’ll tell you:
The long-awaited apprenticeship phase of the Praxis program has officially begun. Exactly one week ago from today (almost to the exact hour) I was in an Uber being transported from the Newark airport to a Brooklyn Airbnb where my base camp is set up for the next week or so.
What do these foreign words mean?
I, Dana Arends, homeschooled farm kid from The Middle of Nowhere, Minnesota, have officially moved to New York City (and—unsurprisingly—have no idea what I’m doing).
The entire experience has been nothing short of an adventure (even from before I actually got here). Everything from packing for three separate trips at once, traveling something like 26 hours in a big loop from Minnesota to Canada to Michigan to Chicago to, finally, New York City (after a short detour to Rochester, New York due to some ridiculously awesome thunderstorms that are apparently less awesome to fly through)—it’s been an adventure.
And none of this even touches on the actual apprenticeship piece of this whole apprenticeship thing. That has been an adventure just the same.
Less than 24 hours after landing, I was at a startup accelerator demo night on the bajillionth (that’s an exact number, yes) floor of a massive building that had the most amazing view of literally everything to see in New York City, listening to six different founders pitch their ideas and business models to the crowd of fellow entrepreneurs, leaders, and other members of the thriving tech ecosystem of New York.
It was wild.
The whole week has been a rollercoaster (literally and figuratively—the elevator in that building was so fast it made my ears pop).
Anyway, it feels like it’s been approximately 17 months since I got here, but it has really been one literal week. So, even though my official start date isn’t until tomorrow, I decided to write this wrap-up post because… well. I’m here. And I’m working. And it’s been a week. So why not?
(Hopefully that explains the whole Week 0.5 title—since we’re technically not even in my first week yet.)
For this week, I’m going to cover a couple Frequently Asked Questions that I’ve received from the vast assortment of fans, friends, and family members that closely follow this blog (thanks mom and grandma).
- “What’s the name of the place you’re working again?”
That would be Hapday Group.
- “And what do they do?”
They provide operational, business development, and advising services to profitable international companies trying to break into the US market.
- “What does that mean?”
Good question. (I’ll be documenting that journey of discovery here, so subscribe to this blog if you want to find out.)
- “Well where are you living?”
Not in a cardboard box (yet). I have housing lined up through the end of September and am actively looking to find rental options for the beginning of October. If you, dear reader, happen to know of anyone in New York who’s looking for a roommate in October who won’t charge me an arm and a leg and the birthright to my firstborn child (choose two, but I can’t do all three), let me know.
- “Have you gotten lost yet?
Constantly. It’s a real joy. I have this uncanny ability to walk confidently for approximately seven minutes before realizing I’m headed in the completely wrong direction.
- “How’s the subway?”
The first subway I came into contact with in New York was the Subway in the Rochester airport when our plane was getting refueled after definitely not running out of fuel on its way to Newark. That was pretty mediocre, but there was one poor woman serving the entire occupancy of not only our plane, but also the three others that also got grounded due to the weather. Props to you, brave Subway Woman. Somebody get that woman a medal.
In terms of the public transportation subway, I’m getting the hang of it—slowly but surely! It’s kind of nice to be able to commute and not have to put any personal energy into driving or paying attention to the road and silly stuff like that.
- “Do you like your coworkers?”
So… I started, and three of them left. I’m trying not to take it personally, but I think they hate me. The ones who stuck around are great!
(After re-reading this section I thought I should add some context for clarity: there were three summer interns that all finished up their time with Hapday in the past couple of weeks since I officially signed on. Only one of whom did I actually have the pleasure of meeting before he, too, left to go home. So just for clarification: I’m not actually tearing this place apart, and I really do love my coworkers!)
- “What do you even do at work? Sit around and pick your nose?” (Thanks for that one, dad)
This week I dug deep into the Hapday Google Drive to familiarize myself with as much of their internal processes as humanly possible. I also started coming up with a first draft of what my thoughts are for a content strategy for beginning to really build up their brand.
Lastly, I’ve been tasked with taking all of their various documentation for one specific service they offer and combining it into one master doc that outlines the process from the very beginning to the very end. So far I’ve gotten the first step and the last step down (both of which happen to involve celebration). The middle is a little more involved, but it’ll come.
- “Have you found yourself a good church yet? Are you plugged into a community? DO YOU TITHE?!”
After I “lucked out” to see that a friend “randomly” shared a podcast that “just so happened” to be produced by a church in New York City, I knew right away what my Sunday plans were. The Lord provides in little and big ways, and I have no shadow of a doubt that “happening” upon that podcast posting was Him totally providing.
That church is seriously awesome, too. I’ll link the message from tonight here once it’s uploaded.
So there are just a few answers and sneak peeks into what’s been happening the past week here in my life, and New York, and at Hapday.
Next week should be a little more structured, but I wanted to get some of this preliminary stuff out of the way so we’re all on the same page.
Also! Because I’m realizing that this opportunity is too valuable to not thoroughly document, I will also be resuming my daily blogging endeavors. That should (hopefully) result in less detail-heavy apprenticeship updates. So make sure to tune into that if you want to experience a lot of new things (New York, the world of startups, public transportation) vicariously through me and my attempts at figuring things out.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and be blessed!
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What Joe said^