One Year Anniversary at my job

I don't usually post about my job. I don't think it's appropriate. And, people have been fired for doing it. But, this is a milestone in my life, so I'm posting.

On November 22, I celebrated one year at my job at SelectHealth.
Well, I mean, there was no celebration or anything, but I was asked to post what I liked about my job.
While the people celebrating seven years and 11 years and nine years all wrote a sentence or a paragraph, I, of course, had to write my life story.

I told the person in charge to edit the verbosity (is that a word?) and I had some bullets at the end, she said, um, no, I'm sending everything (a mass email went out in my department).

This is what I wrote.

One Year Ago:
Last year was my Leap of Faith year when I left Pennsylvania with no job, no home and not knowing what was going to happen to me.
When I arrived in Utah in September, I went to work right away on the Internet finding a job.  Sometimes I would wake up and not even brush my teeth and just hit the computer and stay there until midnight.
It took about 10 weeks before I started getting prospects and interviews.  Luckily I had some temp jobs.
On the day I interviewed with Eric and Matt, I had 3 other places that I interviewed as well.  I wrote off SelectHealth.  They didn’t really appear too interested in me so I decided not to get my hopes up.

Irony:
Right after that interview, I started temping at Merit Medical in South Jordan, helping the HR department with open enrollment.  Their insurance—SelectHealth!
During that time, I got a call from Marissa Johnson in HR at SH offering me the job of office coordinator for the pharmacy department.  I was flabbergasted! I didn’t think I had a chance.  I asked for time to think about it and she gave me 48 hours.  In that time, I talked to all the SelectHealth people at Merit, asking them how they liked working there.  All I received were positive reviews.
After doing my investigation and finding out how great SelectHealth’s reputation is—#1 place to work in Utah voted upon by the employees—I realized how lucky I was to get the offer.  Benefits would kick in after a month (a real plus) and I could earn a pension on top of a 401k plan (who gets a pension anymore?).  So I called Marissa back and told her, “I accept!”

This whole year I have learned why SelectHealth is the best place to work in Utah. 
When I first arrived, I would ask people in the elevator and the parking lot, “So, you can tell me, do you really like working here?”  Everyone always replied, “YES!”  I thought it was too good to be true. Or I thought the elevators and parking lots were bugged…
There is so much employee appreciation, it couldn’t go unnoticed—free pie; a luau; Christmas presents; raffles and drawings; ice cream; community service; lunch and learn; massages...and a gym!  I joined the gym, I joined the Book Club, I get two massages a month, and I’m making new friends all the time as I take every opportunity that is offered.
I am so lucky to work in an environment that is caring and friendly.  Everyone around me always has a smile and a kind word. And I have the best boss in the whole company!! (True! I’m not just saying that!)
These last few months have been hard and I have to fight feeling sorry for my poor little self, but coming back to work actually brightened my days.  It was so refreshing to know that my co-workers care about me.  I have a little bell and flashy handlebars on my scooter and someone anonymously taped a business card to my wheel (that recently broke off) so I could be even more annoying.  These things tell me that people are thinking about me and caring about me.  It makes me feel good.
I’m so grateful to work here.

So, what do I like best?  Succinctly:
1.       The people.  They’re all good people.
2.       The environment. It’s very caring and friendly.
3.       The employee appreciation.  I don’t feel like a number here, but like a valued contributor.
4.       The opportunity to better myself through educational presentations.