In my last post, I mentioned that I had a job interview. It turned out not to be an interview so much as a discussion of what I'd like to teach and when I'd be available to do so, given what was offered in the schedule. Thus, I decided to take a (part-time) adjunct teaching position at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. It's about 1.5-2 hours from Marion, but I'll be teaching my three classes on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. I decided spending about eight hours per week in the car was worth getting some actual teaching experience, since all I really have are my years as a graduate assistant, which requires all the work of a real job but offers little of the prestige on the resume. Like I used to tell my students: they were real students receiving real grades, but I wasn't a real teacher.
What initially complicated but ultimately solidified my decision to accept the USI job was that Aaron was called for an interview at the NBC affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin the day we had my interview in Evansville. They seemed impressed with his resume and cover letter, and wanted to arrange to fly him up for an in-person interview after an hour-long phone conversation.
All signs, initially, pointed to YES. We would be further north, slightly closer to home, and in a cooler climate. The station was an up-market move and had just become the official station of the Green Bay Packers. It was corportate-owned, which could possibly mean higher pay. I think I may have been more excited than Aaron was about the whole thing. I started daydreaming about wearing sweaters and driving through blizzards. And eating a lot more cheese.
They flew him up to Green Bay (by way of Marion, St. Louis and Chicago) to tour the station, meet everyone, and get interviewed. Aaron's flight from Chicago to Green Bay was cancelled due to storms in Detroit, and while that caused a minor inconvenience on the way there, it was nothing to also having all of his return flights cancelled. But he got there, and met everyone. He toured. He saw Green Bay. He ate at Lambeau Field.
And when he came back home, he had about two days to make a decision. Ultimately, after talking to his coworkers here and discussing it with me, we decided to stick around southern Illinois for awhile longer because it wasn't a good fit. It may have looked great on paper, but the timing wasn't right and Aaron wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to what he's built up here.
Making decisions as a married couple is complicated. He may have been willing to take a job that wasn't quite what he wanted had I said that it was what I really wanted for us. We were willing to consider having him move to Wisconsin while I stayed behind in Marion until my semester of teaching at USI was over in December. Basically, married-couple-decisions are fraught with the notion that you're simultaneously one person and two people, and you have to somehow get your interests/wants/needs to align in such a way that if both people can't be happy, at least one or both won't be miserable, either.
So, we'll be sticking around here awhile longer. Aaron gets to keep the job he loves, and I get to try out being a "real" teacher. We don't know where we'll be a year from now, but up until a few weeks ago, we didn't know where we'd be by the end of July. I'll take this as progress.
Congratulations on this opportunity! Even though it's a little inconvenient as far as location, I'm sure it'll be an excellent way to get the experience that will make you ever so much more eligible for hire (and better pay, and benefits, etc.). When will you be starting your job? Sounds like a rough commute, but possibly the perfect time to listen to some audiobooks.
ReplyDeleteI think we were all sitting on pins and needles when Aaron took his interview and while you two worked out a decision. There was a certain bittersweetness; knowing that a coworker is moving on and away but to better and brighter things. In the end, I think we're all happy to know he'll be with us a while longer (and you, by extension; more Denny's brunches, please!). But I hope, as you say, it will be a good fit for him (and you) for a while. I imagine it feels much better to be living with a sense of purpose and direction as opposed to feeling like you're stuck, waiting to make your next move.
And, of course, I hope you continue to blog about it all. =)
I don't know what word describes how I feel about the USI job. It's too soon to be excited, so I guess I am relieved, if only because it means I can take some time off from the online job search/application process, which gets to be a pain. I'll resume it in a few months, though, for jobs for the 2013-14 academic year. If I get a better start, I might have more luck finding a position I really want in a place we want to live long-term. And yes, the USI job is probably going to lead to borrowing audiobooks from the library or, even better, getting some language-learning cds! I've always wanted to learn French.
ReplyDeleteI was really excited for Aaron, but the process was pretty stressful and nerve wracking. That he had such a short amount of time to decide certainly made it harder, and it felt so urgent that we were second-guessing our thought process and reasoning. We made the right decision for a lot of reasons, and the WSIL "family" was a big part of it--especially since I feel welcome to visit whenever I want!
I can imagine teaching (which you enjoy!) will serve as a nice repose from the anxiety of job hunting. Learning French would be a WONDERFUL way to pass the time! Keep us readers posted on what line of language-learning products you may decide to try! What sort of classes will you be teaching? How do you feel about the content?
DeleteI'm so glad you feel welcome at the station. I know I really appreciate how sociable our coworkers and their families have been! I'm sure you can relate to feeling so far away from home and it's nice to have established a sense of familiarity with good people!
I'll be teaching ENG 100 and 101. The majority of my past teaching experience is 101, which is the standard introductory composition course for college freshmen. The 100 is a credit-bearing (but not requirement-meeting) introductory course that is a little more developmentally-minded and based on a portfolio system.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have disliked the portfolio system in the past (SIUC's 101 class was portfolio-based but it wasn't structured to allow sufficient time to complete and revise the porfolio), I'm actually looking forward to using the system again in my 100 class and not having it in 101.
I haven't picked up my textbooks or standard syllabi yet, so we'll see how I really feel once I've had a chance to start planning my courses and assignments. I'm just relieved to be getting back into a classroom.
I've started reading online reviews of different learn-in-the-car language programs, and the results are quite mixed. From the sounds of it, I'd be best off choosing a language I've already had some instruction in and using the cds as a sort of refresher. That means it will likely end up being Spanish, German or Italian (or all three!). French might have to wait until I can take it in an actual classroom.