The temporary desk

The manager introduced me to everyone, but I had forgotten half the names before we reached the spare desk. I was worried that asking again would make me look inattentive. A colleague placed a seating chart beside my keyboard and said she had needed one for a fortnight. I felt less like the only person who had ever arrived without knowing what to do. The first assignment was straightforward, and I was impatient to begin it. Completing something seemed easier than continuing to demonstrate that I was new.

In your own words, explain the writer's thoughts and feelings at the beginning of the placement.