I have a real job.  A. REAL. JOB.  It’s been forever since I have had a real job.  I have certainly had my fair share of jobs and decent/fun jobs in my lifetime, but this one is different.  Different than anything I have ever done before.  Different, Overwhelming, Amazing, Intellectual, Creative, Stressful, Scary…I think you get that idea.  This is a 9-5 (well 8-4 in my case) job with limited vacation time and a to do list that might rival Santa’s.

I am planning out what I am responsible for and I will be doing a lot of traveling–only across my state–but it is still travel and will take me away from home on some weekends and at least one night every other week.

I am adjusting to this new work world.  It is very different than work at the university where my schedule was my own and my time off–was somewhat limitless.  I was also super bored and not at all intellectually stimulated or motivated for that job anymore.  I am motivated for this one–but the work is constant and so much of it.  I have had to force myself to separate from the work–because my list doesn’t seem to get any smaller.  I finish one thing and two more things have popped up.  My work is a bit like a gremlin.

I know how fortunate I am to have an amazing job that pays me well in an arena that I am passionate about.

I now have a greater understanding of what life was like for my husband for the past like forever.  It is taking some adjusting to go from work where it has been non-stop working and thinking to home where my little bundles of endless energy clamor for attention and it takes everything in me to not just explode for the want of some solitude and calmness.  My husband laughs.  Sometimes I just want to punch him.

But tonight my boss is taking us all out for a holiday dinner and he decided to close our office on Thursday and Friday this week–which is really nice of him.  I couldn’t ask for a better boss or better co-workers.  I couldn’t be happier with where I have landed in the grand scheme of things.  I am just looking forward to having some things in place and being able to do all that I want.  I’m ready for greatness–if only all this other crap wasn’t in my way .

It really is true what they say.  There really are 6 applicants for every job opening out there.  I have been lucky enough to turn my part-time job into a full-time job.  But it isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Because I work at a public university, we had to advertise the position even though the job is mine.  We only advertised by one mass email and we had 8 applicants including myself.  I feel bad but it really hit home for me how bad the job market is.  This isn’t a glamorous job with big pay.  It’s an administrative job with lots of emailing, report writing, and data analyzing.  It is a job that has no real option for upward mobility, but it is a job at a university.  That alone opens other doors for future advancement.  I feel bad for those 7 people who won’t be getting my job.  I understand something that I didn’t before.  It really is tough out there in the job market.  I have been really fortunate all my life to have jobs when I wanted them and to have never been out of work (knocking on all the wood I can find).  But there are so many people out there who are educated and cannot find work and those who are less educated and  cannot find work.

I do know how lucky I am to have a secure job and be married to a man who has a secure job.  Our kids don’t want for anything they need (there are plenty of things they want), our mortgage is easily paid and we have extra for vacations and the unnecessary things in life.  So many of the people who are out of work aren’t out of work because they are lazy or don’t want to be bothered to look for a job, but because the job market is so tight that everyone is fighting over the few jobs there are.  Companies are filling their vacant jobs, they are asking their employees to work harder for slightly higher wages, but giving a few employees who are picking up the slack a few extra bucks is a lot cheaper than hiring another employee who needs benefits, etc.

I hope that someday it all bounces back and that most people who want a job can find one that pays well and allows them to provided for themselves and their families.  I know that we will always have a certain number of people out of work, but I hope that soon it gets better.  I certainly appreciate the opportunities I have.

Of my community college teaching career.  I am taking a break from teaching to focus on my doctoral work and research for more possible articles.  I am torn about this.  It has been really fun to teach and I have really enjoyed it.  It has been hard and it has been trying and frustrating as well.  I’m not sad, as I knew that when I started working at the community that it really was just a way for me to get out of the house a little and then it became the way to pay for private school for Noah.  It has been my savior and also been the biggest time sucker in my life.  Teaching is really hard and time consuming.  It is sometimes full-filling but mostly it is a time-sucker.

What I’ll Miss:

• The students
• Intellectual development (of students)
• Sharing my passion for writing
• Helping students become better thinkers, writers and students
• Challenging thoughts
• Being able to say I’m a teacher

What I won’t Miss:

• Plagiarism
• Excuses for why assignments aren’t done
• Failing students
• Grading papers
• Creating assignments
• Having a 3rd job
• Being an adjunct and treated like on
• Feeling frustrated that I can’t fix the system

Good-bye community college students and colleagues.  It has been fun and I have learned so much.  But I am happy to be moving on to a full-time job (one job) and being able to work on what I want to work on in order to begin to make an even bigger difference.