End of an Era (Part 2)

Happy Hour at Carpool with the Capital Markets crew

Wasn’t originally planning on writing so much about leaving Cambridge, but the more I think about it, the more important I realize it's been in my life.  In addition to being where I go all day to get paid, it also has been the center of my social life for much of the past 5.5 years too, especially the first few years.

I seriously could have started a blog five years ago just dedicated to the social aspect surrounding Cambridge, some of the crazy characters that have passed through the office, and the wacky adventures we all got into at happy hours and hanging out on weekends.  Unfortunately I didn’t, and it’s too late for that now, and besides, this is a family blog.  I’m trying to keep these posts squeaky clean.  But anyway, at least for me, the Control Department definitely debunked the theory that college is the last really fun years of your life.  We had around 80 employees under the age of 25 working closely together, with supervisors who weren’t much older.  Some people were put off by the immaturity and spouts of unprofessionalism that such a young group displayed, but if you didn’t let that bother you or distract you from doing your job, it was a really fun group to be a part of.  Wednesday and Thursday happy hours became as much of the weekly routine as Friday staff meetings and team breakfast Tuesdays.  It definitely made the transition into the working world a lot easier, and gave me a social circle in Arlington since most of friends from school still lived in that distant state, Maryland.

Team happy hour at Clarendon Ballroom rooftop, circa 2006

When I joined the Capital Markets Group in September 2008, I figured that my days of partying with coworkers was over, and although the happy hours were certainly less frequent and intense, I found the new group to be a personable, fun loving crowd.  We turned into a pretty tight knit group for the most part, especially around lunchtime when it was seen as a crime if someone made alternative lunch plans without the group, and I've made some good friends in that time.

So anyway its been a little bittersweet leaving after so long at the firm.  But my final week there was great.  For the most part people have been going out of their way to make me feel special.  We got a nice lunch at Ted’s Montana Grill on the company on Wednesday (actually one of the few times Cambridge has paid for anything while I’ve been there), my lunch crew let me pick our destination the other four days this week to make sure I hit up everywhere I wanted to before leaving town, and we had farewell happy hours on Wednesday and Friday.  But most importantly, I got surprise ice cream cake on Thursday, which was quite delicious. 

Well I think that’s enough reflecting on Cambridge.  I’m unemployed now and will be for the foreseeable future, but I’m looking forward to using this time off to get the most out of my time as a student and use this opportunity to best prepare myself for whatever is next.  But before any of that, I’m mostly looking forward to my seven day all-inclusive vacation in Punta Cana which starts tomorrow.  It’s gonna be some solid relaxation before all the flurry of activity and last minute road trip planning that’s waiting for me when I return for the road trip.  I’ll write up a vacation summary next week after I return.