Tuesday, June 20, 2017

I Got a Job!

Last week I had a Skype interview with a search committee of several professors at a school in College Town, a few hours away from the small Midwestern town where I grew up. When the English Department chair called yesterday and offered me a job, my reaction was basically like this:


via GIPHY

It's a better job, too. Although it's not a tenure-track position, it is a full-time one, and it's a higher-ranking position than the one I had before. The pay is better, and the courseload is lighter (which means fewer papers to grades, YES!). The school is also more prestigious and well-known than the one I was teaching at before.

Now I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off of me, especially because these last few weeks I've been feeling like this:


via GIPHY

But now that I have a new job, I don't have to work as a part-time adjunct instructor, nor do I have to go back to working in retail. And that's definitely a good thing because I have a lot less patience for rude customers and might say something like, "I SPIT on your credit cards! GET OUT!"

The department chair said that my offer letter would be sent soon. I would never do this, but I kind of want to go to my old department with the letter, wave it in their faces, and be all:


via GIPHY

But I still need to use them as references for the future, so nah. What's interesting is that if my contract had been renewed for another year, I would not have applied for this new job in College Town. The other school posted their ad a couple weeks after I found out I wasn't being rehired. So maybe it worked out the way it was supposed to.

It will be strange to go back to the area where I grew up. I haven't been there since I was a teenager. Many of my old high school classmates still live there. They're all married with children, whereas I don't even want to stay faithful to my cable company, and when offered the chance to hold an adorable baby, am more likely to say, "No thanks. I would like to pet your dog, though." Also, I don't really want to see any of them until I lose twenty pounds, become richer and more successful, and am married to a guy who looks like Chris Hemsworth and has Jerry Seinfeld's personality (so basically never).

It will also be sad to leave behind the friends I made in Small Town, especially because I'm not sure when (or if) I'll see them again. I did not have a lot of friends in Chicago; most of my friends from college had moved on to other places, and I was pretty much an outcast in grad school. My friends here welcomed me into their circle, invited me to their houses for parties, and included me in their outings to restaurants and bars. It felt good to have something in my life other than work. I hope it won't be too difficult making new friends in College Town, but I have a feeling it will be.

But I need this job, and more importantly, I want this job. When I took the job at my former employer two years ago, I took it a little reluctantly because I did not want to leave the big city and had been hoping to teach somewhere else. But although there were several other schools who were interested in hiring me, at the time, the job that my former employer was offering seemed like the best option. This time, though, it's different. I am actually looking forward to teaching at this school.

Now I have all kinds of preparations to make: packing, cleaning, etc. And of course, I need to download more music for the long drive to College Town; I still have the musical tastes of a thirteen-year-old school girl who eats too much sugar.

Thank you to all of you who wrote supportive, encouraging comments on my blog. I appreciate it, as always, and I'll blog about the new place once I get there in August.

What about you? Have you ever started a new job that you were excited (or not so excited about)?

17 comments:

  1. Yippee! I'm so stoked for you. Yes, this is definitely a step up, and having had the experiences you have of the last two years, you'll surely branch out and find people who share interests. (Like the poetry reading people.) Here's to change--good change!

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    1. Hi Crystal,
      Thanks! I'm hopeful that there will be poetry readings in College Town; I like being around people who like writing and literature as much as I do. I've also thought of trying Meetup to find people who share my interests.

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    2. I think that's a great idea. I've looked at the site several times and thought about getting out there and being social...but that would require leaving the house. LOL. Okay, I'm not that bad, just already busy between 4 kids and their commitments. Wishing you sanity with all your moving prep!

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  2. Awesome! Congrats! I don't believe in things working out the way they're supposed to, but I do believe in seizing opportunities when they present themselves and that's exactly what you did, so take credit for it. And luck you, you get to leave the South. ;)

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    1. Hi nomdeplume,
      Thanks! I must admit that I got used to living in the South. For one thing, the weather's a lot easier to deal with here than in the Midwest, and there were a lot of interesting places to go to outside of Small Town. But it never really felt like home to me in the same way that the Midwest did.

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  3. See? I knew it! I knew something better would come along for you. I am so happy for you. Congratulations!!!!

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    1. Hi Chrys,
      Thanks! I feel better now too; even though I have a lot of moving preparations to make, at the same time now I feel like I can finally enjoy my summer.

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  4. This is wonderful news! Congratulations on this next big step in your career! I look forward to hearing about more of your adventures in the new area.

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    1. Hi Karen,
      Thanks! I'll definitely be blogging about College Town; I've never lived there before, so it'll be interesting. And at the very least it gives me something else to write about.

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  5. Hooray!! I'm so happy for you! Congratulations and like Karen I also look forward to hearing about your new adventures.

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    1. Hi Julie,
      Thanks! I will definitely be blogging about College Town; in fact, I plan to go there this week to find an apartment. I think it'll be interesting. :)

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  6. Congratulations!!! See? You are amazing. Your friends can always come visit you in your new town. I am so excited for you. I hope the move goes well. Enjoy the well deserved sigh of relief;) And definitely have some well deserved sugar;)

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    1. Hi Murees,
      Thanks! I don't know if my friends will be able to visit me because several of them have kids, which would make it harder for them to come to College Town. But maybe I'll go visit them. And yes, I definitely feel very relieved.

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  7. Oh my god! I can't believe I missed this post. YOU GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!

    (I've been buried deep in edits, and only peeking into other people's blogs in tiny chunks.)

    I was reading your latest post, thinking 'Hang on a minute, NW's moving...?'

    Huge congratulations! You deserve this so much. Yay! And I'm so relieved that it's a better job all round than your current one - hopefully, with a little more free time you'll be able to write and enjoy yourself more.

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  8. Hi Annalisa,
    Thanks! I'm relieved too; I feel better than I have in weeks now that I finally know where I'm going to be working and also that I'm going to be working; I was starting to worry that I wouldn't find anything. I'm looking forward to having a little more free time, although unfortunately, I will have to increase my hours at my part-time website job in order to help pay off the debts I'll accumulate from this move. But it's worth it.
    BTW, I tried to leave a comment on your Wordpress blog, but it wouldn't let me for some reason. I tried signing in through Twitter, but that didn't work either. I tend not to leave comments on Wordpress partly because if I sign in with my e-mail address to leave a comment, it somehow will allow anyone to access my e-mail inbox if they just click on my username. I don't know why that happens.

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