Here you will find the things about me that are not found on the boring piece of paper that we call a resume. Fortunately, this is my website, and I am not limited to a single page piece of paper here and can let fly the unspoken words between the lines and how every experience relates in some way even if the title sounds much more lack luster at face value. If it’s the boring piece of paper, (wait, do you still use paper?) that you want to download or print, its below, and ATS ready, and very impersonable. Or, feel free to continue reading, I promise it will be worth the time. No subscription required, but I would appreciate a like and a follow.
ResumeHere you will find the things about me that are not found on the boring piece of paper that we call a resume. Fortunately, this is my website, and I am not limited to a single page piece of paper here and can let fly the unspoken words between the lines and how every experience relates in some way even if the title sounds much more lack luster at face value. If it’s the boring piece of paper, (wait, do you still use paper?) that you want to download or print, it’s below, and ATS-ready, and very impersonable. Or, feel free to continue reading, I promise it will be worth the time. No subscription required, but I would appreciate a like and a follow.
Adobe Creative Cloud / Adobe Creative Suite are a given in this field. If you have never used them, you’re well behind the curve. I have been using Adobe since CS5 and upgraded to CS6 a few years later. It was so long ago that I owned an Apple computer at that time. Eventually gave that laptop to my daughter and with time that laptop died. I had already moved onto the Creative Cloud, because who doesn’t like some of the easy edits, they initially added like making curves and some of the AI integration that has simply streamlined processes and saves so much time. Photoshop and Illustrator, I learned those first, then InDesign, After Effects, and Dreamweaver (although no one really uses it).
While still technically part of the Adobe Suite, I learned XD for the first time years ago during an all-nighter with a bowl of popcorn and a notebook. I had switched schools and was in a web scripting class that wanted us to make basic wireframes using XD. However at my previous school, we did wireframes differently. So, I found a class available for free on YouTube from an Adobe Certified Instructor, made some popcorn, and went to town. I have since used it many times over the years and still prefer its simplicity to Figma although definitely not as user friendly as Figma.
Speaking of which, hello Figma! Same concept as XD, but more (and less) user-friendly depending on how you want to look at it. Figma has much more functionality especially when it comes to producing high-fidelity mockups or managing larger projects with reusable assets and such.
It wouldn’t be a tools and software section without mentioning Microsoft 365 and Google Sheets / Docs. I am familiar and well versed with both, but depending on what I am working on really depends on which platform I use. Google Sheets makes for really good and easy tasks lists and dashboards, but Excel has great database features for analytics and data validation. It’s really a pick your poison type of scenario. (I also was Microsoft Excel Certified for version 2014, was that really 11 years ago?)
And, begrudgingly, WordPress. WordPress is a whole can of worms on its own, and I am not just talking about editing WordPress sites and selecting a premade theme. I can make child themes and my own custom themes. Not my favorite thing to do, but I can do it.
Which brings me to Git / GitHub for version control. Very important, especially when experimenting on code, WordPress themes, collaborating or just editing code with cats around. No, I am not a crazy cat lady, but there may be a few warning signs.
Started my educational career at Full Sail University in their Online Program for Graphic Design. Took quite a few classes, but as my time in the Marine Corps was coming to an end and the transition to the civilian world can be difficult, I took a break. I ended up finding a different program at the Art Institutes, studying Graphic Design as well. After completing nearly half of my program, the school closed for various reasons that didn’t effect the education itself, but financial things. There, I had taken one of my first coding classes and it caught me; hook, line, and sinker. This led to the seemingly impossible task of finding a new school that had an accredited program catering to both the creative and coding sides of my passion. Enter, The Academy of Art. I began their BFA program in Web Design and New Media. The program was challenging but I enjoyed every minute of it. I ended up taking another year break, but when I returned, their program transitioned to UI/UX design as the Design industry in constantly changing and evolving (my favorite part of this industry as a whole). It was a bumpy and winding road to earn my BFA, but life happens. You just need the passion and dedication to see it through.
I am doing this in reverse order, chronological is for the resume although this doesn’t start from the very beginning as I have been working for as long as legally possible and most of those initial jobs don’t relate to this field, and some of those companies or locations do not even exist anymore.
My first duty station was Iwakuni Japan, which was an amazing experience. I had never traveled outside the country before, so being tossed in a world where most don’t speak English outside of the base, was something for sure. I was continuous in awe of this country filled with rich culture and a way of life vastly different from the American lifestyle. There in Japan, I was working for a fighter jet squadron in their operations department maintaining flight logbooks and training qualifications for the pilots. Making sure that the pilots completed their reports accurately and were up-to-date on all their mandated flights and training honed my attention to detail and meticulous organization.
Completing my overseas tour, I was transferred to Miramar MCB in San Diego, CA. There, I worked at the Headquarters in Flight Planning and Clearance. We worked hand in hand with Air Traffic Control making sure all preregistered flights were audited for accuracy and entered into the system correctly with proper weather clearance. Lots of data entry where any single error could be life-threatening or cause major delays. I will always stand by the idea that pilots are certainly cool, but they are terrible at logging and notetaking. As I was moved up the ranks and was promoted to Corporal, I overhauled our procedures to facilitate less chances for human error and streamlined the training process as we had new Marines rotating in and out frequently. (See awards for the formal recognition). The procedures I put in place were then implemented at various other Airfield Operations department because they became the proven standard to eliminate the risk of human error which tends to be the most common problem.
While working at Miramar and managing my Marines, I was appointed to a side billet which was Assistant Information Systems Coordinator. (Everyone knows that when you are great at your job, you get to do more people’s jobs.) I am good with computers, more so than the average Marine anyway, and have taken classes to help manage our station SharePoint system. So, they appointed me to manage the IT side of our systems at Headquarters and assist our formal IT department to keep the computers up-to-date as well as facilitate any computer troubleshooting amongst the entire department building. If you have ever had a government job, you know that problems come in droves with these ancient slow Dell computers. The government never seems to have a budget to actually update them which would solve over half the problems.
My first job back in the civilian world. You may or may not find this one on my formal resume. I took this job because of the flexibility to work while I was still working on my degree. I did really enjoy this one, a little too much. My clients were fantastic. I loved getting to know them and helping them with all their needs, each one being unique. I could sit here and write all day about Dotty and helping her come to terms with her husband, who was on hospice when I took her as a client, passing away. Also Marty, and Janet, and… I really could. They were great people in their golden years needing a little extra help or some company and great conversation. But after losing a few clients in a very short period of time, I realized this was taking its toll on me, and I needed to move on.
This job was a blast of a good time. It was fast paced and constantly moving but allowed me to just put my headphones in and work. From the moment of clocking in, besides a beginning of shift meeting to explain how many trailers we were unloading and loading onto our trucks for the day, I was able to just work. Our starting times varied based on how many packages needed sorting, because at the end of the day, the drivers required a ready truck in order to hit the road at 9am Sharp. Deadlines matter, regardless of the workload. Attention to detail and working quickly are the defining factors here because a package ending up not only in the wrong place on the truck, or worse, on the wrong truck, means a customer is either not getting their package that day or the driver having the veer from their thoroughly planned out route and extend their day to correct your error. The many pieces of the puzzle that are logistics, while seeming like an irrelevant job, the work of one Pre-loader affects the timing and execution of everyone else’s work. Here, I had the lowest misload errors of everyone and maintained that pace week after week. For those unfamiliar with logistics, we would handle 1000’s of packages every day, and each person would be solely responsible for preparing the loads of 3 to 6 trucks with individual routes. Packages would be labeled up the line with truck route numbers and selected for locations on the truck based on the route that was planned out. While in theory this sounds fairly simple, packages come down that line 10’s at a time and need to be moved from that line onto your truck and placed in its location in seconds. The sizes of these packages vary, including weight, and needed to be adjusted in location that was logical and met safety standards. This required split-second decisions because, every moment you’re in the trucks putting a package away, more packages are coming down the belt that may belong to your trucks. I don’t know if I can say fast-paced enough, but it was a very enjoyable job for me as I strive in an environment where I can put my head down and get to work, especially with a great playlist at the ready.
I worked here for many years. I started at the very bottom of the totem pole and worked my way up the ladder. The location I worked out closed its doors at the end of 2019. I had transferred to another location and then covid hit. Restaurants moved to minimum manning, leading to my decision to go back to school full time instead. My journey with this company (and I do mean journey) was great during the time I spent there. I had many loyal customers that came in just to be served by me. Often my regulars would stroll in on days I didn’t work only to see I picked up a shift and immediately demand me as their server. They were happy to wait a little for service when I was already at capacity. I am one of those people that will recognize and remember the customers I served (maybe not their names, but definitely their faces and food / drink orders).
A little story time, I had a guy that was on the verge of becoming a regular (although I don’t think he realized this yet). He started coming in every other Friday and would sit at the same corner booth in the bar and order a half wing and a 22oz Coors Light. It only was about the 3rd visit when he caught us on a night when we were out of Coors. When I went to greet him, instead of my normal spiel, I started with “I do apologize, but we are out of Coors today. Would a Bud Light be alright for you or can I get you something else. And are we getting our usual wings?” The look of shock on his face was not only did I recognize him but remembered what he wanted as well right off the bat. It definitely threw him off for sure but opened the door for better conversation and a feeling of welcome. He explained the reason for his new, regular visits and we would chit chat as time went on. Making customers feel welcome was my specialty regardless of how busy and chaotic the environment was. Being able to remember people (or at least making them feel like I did) was why I excelled here. Also, I could make a mean Huckleberry Hooch.
Another day that would remain in my memory was a particular Super Bowl Sunday. As we were not a sports bar, it was historically the lowest sales day of the year. For context: on a normal Sunday, the restaurant would complete around $15-20k in sales with the bar server making up about $2500 to $3000 of those sales for the entire day. This particular Sunday, we planned on making around $3000 for the entire restaurant as that was the historical average. I was the only server, I was the only bartender, and there was a host / To-go order taker. The person in that position was supposed to be an experience server as a backup, but she ended up having her shift covered by a rookie, which shouldn’t have been a problem for the expected volume of the day. Then we unlocked the doors. Instantly, we had several tables walk in and get seated. Not really an issue as I would run a Friday night solo in the bar managing the bar rail, all 10 tables, and making all the drinks for the bar on Fridays. Chaos was not unusual and I can manage my time well without compromising the quality of service. However, on this day, people kept pouring in. Within the first 30 minutes, unusual, tables were full and then some. I was in a pinch and quickly underwater. My back-up server did not feel comfortable enough to take any of these tables, but she was helping get coffee waters and bread. Even so, we needed help, quickly. I called my manager to get him to come in as quickly as possible and let him know the situation. By the time he got in, I was 20 tables deep, and at my very limit. For even a seasoned server, 10 tables are a lot with 20 being virtually unheard of. With our manager in providing a second set of hands for running food and assistance, everyone ended up leaving happy. We ended up meeting the projections for roughly the entire day in that first 2 hours of the shift, with me pulling in $2500 alone It was a testament to my ability to work under extreme stress, time-management, and knowing when I need help before it becomes a major catastrophe.
"Professional achievement while serving as a Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, Flight Planning Clearance and Delivery, Station S-3, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California from June 2011 to October 2013. During this period, Corporal Wojcik consistently performed her duties in an exemplary and highly professional manner. She adeptly supervised daily high-volume flight clearance activities while providing a wide range of administrative support and services. Corporal Wojcik’s drive and initiative was instrumental to the successful development of a flight planning/clearance training syllabus for incoming fleet assistance program Marines. This program was effective, and it streamlined the process objectives for newly joined marines to get training in minimal amount time with minimal impact to flight operations. Corporal Wojcik’s Exceptional Professionalism, unrelenting perseverance and loyal dedication to duty reflected great credit upon her and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Navel Service."
Superior performance in the execution of her duties during the commanding general’s inspection of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Installations West-Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California from 18-26 March 2013. Corporal Wojcik’s Dedication and Leadership abilities resulted in Marine Corps Air Station Miramar receiving a grade of Mission Capable with Commendatory Remarks in the area of Air Traffic Control. Her actions were instrumental to the success and accomplishment of the Units Mission. Corporal Wojcik’s Initiative and Professionalism reflected credit upon her and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
Throughout the period of 26 October 2009 to 01 February 2013, you distinguished yourself through your exemplary personal and professional conduct. This award is testament to your selfless service and faithful adherence to the Corps’ high standards. You have honored your obligations, displayed the courage of your convictions, and exhibited the highest degree of commitment. Your dedication and integrity reveal the depth of your character and are in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Marine Corps.
