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pleased
I got a job! It's not a library job. It's teaching composition (which includes an information literacy element) at a community college as an adjunct for no benefits and what my employer describes as "ridiculously low" pay. Oh, and it's an hour commute each way.
So why am I so jazzed? Because for my life needs right now, it's very close to perfect. Let's look at the pros. It's work I'm experienced in, mostly enjoy, am pretty good at (if I do say so), and consider socially worthwhile. It's a lovely campus and a wonderful bunch of colleagues. It's also a smallish, rural school and feels very much "my speed," as I'm a kid from the country. It's part-time work, which is what I need right now because I want time to work on my own creative projects. Moreover, while full-time work would provide benefits, I wouldn't be a good teacher tackling 5 classes/term; 3 comp. classes of 25-odd students sounds like a good maximum to me. And, right now, supporting no one but myself, I don't need much money. And I'm good health, so I probably won't need the health benefits (though, of course, if I lived in a civilized nation, I'd have them anyway). And the commute is not bad: freeway driving, pretty, almost no starting/stopping; I can listen to lots of Russian CDs and books on CD. I only have go down 3 days a week, which isn't bad at all. And it's something relevant I can put on my resume--and my first crack at community college work: a definite resume plus.
I bring all this up because I've just been reading The Tao of Pooh and thinking about the idea of doing what's right for you. This job is not a conventional "career move." It may look a bit sad on paper for someone with a Ph.D., MLIS, and additional BS. But aside from the general social point that giving college teachers poverty-level pay and no benefits speaks deplorably of America's investment in having an educated populace and successful democracy, this is the job I want. It feels like a right choice. I'm stoked.
So why am I so jazzed? Because for my life needs right now, it's very close to perfect. Let's look at the pros. It's work I'm experienced in, mostly enjoy, am pretty good at (if I do say so), and consider socially worthwhile. It's a lovely campus and a wonderful bunch of colleagues. It's also a smallish, rural school and feels very much "my speed," as I'm a kid from the country. It's part-time work, which is what I need right now because I want time to work on my own creative projects. Moreover, while full-time work would provide benefits, I wouldn't be a good teacher tackling 5 classes/term; 3 comp. classes of 25-odd students sounds like a good maximum to me. And, right now, supporting no one but myself, I don't need much money. And I'm good health, so I probably won't need the health benefits (though, of course, if I lived in a civilized nation, I'd have them anyway). And the commute is not bad: freeway driving, pretty, almost no starting/stopping; I can listen to lots of Russian CDs and books on CD. I only have go down 3 days a week, which isn't bad at all. And it's something relevant I can put on my resume--and my first crack at community college work: a definite resume plus.
I bring all this up because I've just been reading The Tao of Pooh and thinking about the idea of doing what's right for you. This job is not a conventional "career move." It may look a bit sad on paper for someone with a Ph.D., MLIS, and additional BS. But aside from the general social point that giving college teachers poverty-level pay and no benefits speaks deplorably of America's investment in having an educated populace and successful democracy, this is the job I want. It feels like a right choice. I'm stoked.