The feeling of being protected - Thank God!

I heard from my manager yesterday, after I told him I won the competition, that he is supportive of my attending the conference but he said my supervisor did raise the possibility that I should take leave if I want to go. I had offered to pay my own way to attend the conference and claim it on tax afterwards but now I'm supposed to take leave too? I was quite upset and felt rather unsupported.

I informed my supervisor today that I had won the competition and she said while laughing if I won because I was the only entrant. I laughed too but thought that was really harsh and she didn't share the joy of my win. Anyway, she then congratulated me and said "well done" and mentioned I may have to take leave to go but she'll investigate. At that stage, I had already cried since yesterday about being unsupported that when she said it, it didn't have much of an impact on me and I just said "yes".

My other colleagues felt for me and was really angry that the idea of me taking leave was even raised. They said I shouldn't have to take leave and told me not to. But upset as I was, I felt I had to follow what my supervisor said. Otherwise, won't it be considered insubordination?

Anyway, I was still upset today but before I left for the day, I received a call from a gentleman from the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) to ask if my company was paying for me to attend the conference and I said it was still being worked out but I was willing to pay for it myself. He continued to say that because of my reply, he had been instructed by the institute's president to write to one of the head honcho of my company to ask that my company support me to go. I felt so good and happy that they would go so far as to care if I was being supported. And since finding out I won on Wednesday, I really felt the full extent of the joy of winning. I am impressed with the level of support and the extent of care they have given me. I left home today feeling happy and walking on air!

Thank God for watching over me!