Hacking The Relationship Code

Chapter 15: Risk and Reward

"So you're pursuing a degree in finance at MSU?", she asked after studying my CV intently.

"Yes ma'am."

"How often would you be comfortable working over here?"

"I have classes in the morning and at four in the evening. I can work in the afternoons during weekdays and on weekends I would prefer some flexibility in timings."

"Which timings do you suggest?"

"If it is fine with you, I would like to work from 10am to 3pm from Monday to Saturday."

"That sounds good enough but do you know what it expected from you?"

"It revolves around attending all the customers patiently, I guess."

"You are expected to attend to our customer's needs and bill them accordingly. You will also be required to keep a memo of the stock and a record of sales and you will also be arranging our products where they belong. Does that sound fair enough to you Miss Matthews?"

"It sounds about right Mrs. Stillman."

"So now let's discuss your salary. You can join from this Saturday but you will have to work the same duration shift everyday including Sundays. Give prior notice about your weekend schedules and exam leaves. You can have two paid leaves in a month and you can cut down your hours during exams."

My interview with Mrs. Stillman was going well. She and her husband ran this convenience store together. It was a franchise of 7-eleven. I had to report to both of them. There were three other people in the staff and I was their fourth recruit. Mrs. Stillman seemed to be a 'no nonsense' person and came to her terms directly. She was offering me $10 on an hourly basis. I submitted the required documents and signed the contract. I was happy to agree to the terms. She seemed like a fair lady.

My interview went well and I finally got a job. I was thrilled to start on Saturday. Let's see, I was free to work on Saturdays from 1 to 6pm. That sounded good enough. I could sleep in on Saturdays. It would be a challenge to keep up with my assignments considering I was going to have my plate full with class and work till 6pm daily. Mia and I will have to prepare ourselves to burn the midnight oil. These were going of sleeping in. Come Saturday and I would be earning my sleep literally. Aurelia said that these years were going to prep me up for a lifetime.

Speaking of Aurelia, our last night's conversation had only pushed me deeper into dilemma not only concerning my career but also my love life. After I told her everything I was feeling about Adrian, instead of throwing in some sweet sugary advice, she handed me a reality check.

"You know what Ginna; there's going to be a risk in every relationship you are ever going to pursue. Come to think of it, you are planning to make your career in finance and the basic rule of finance is that there is no reward without any risk. If you are so unwilling to take risks, what are you even doing in finance? Go get yourself something boring and safe. Go become an accountant. See Ginna, you got to take some risks in life otherwise you aren't ever going to fulfill any of your dreams. You are scared of heights, take a dive. You want to work on your people skills, go perform a fucking open mic. You want a meaningful relationship, take the plunge. Otherwise in the end you will have to just accept whatever comes your way and there's no thrill in that. And trust me, you won't value anything you get without your perseverance because you wouldn't have worked on it."

I told you right my sister was one hell of a woman. But right now, her advice wasn't doing good to me. I had always tried to play safe and suddenly changing my gear was easier said than done.

I thought of implementing her advice into my academics first and then into my personal life. So, when it was time to select a topic for our yearly project, I decided to take some risk and take up something bold. Something that's unheard of for first year students. I decided I will be doing my project on Credit rating Agencies. I would investigate their reliability and their credit score formulas and come up with faults and limitations in them. It was kind of a challenging topic for a first year. Dr. Roy was impressed when I spoke about my plan of action with him. He assured me he would be looking forward to give me all the guidance and direction that was required and was eager to see how it turned out by the end of the year.