Trailing Spouse: n. The person in a relationship that gives up their job to follow their better half to a new place (often many states away) where their better half already has a job.
10 years ago, I was applying to colleges.
5 years ago, I was selecting a research group.
3 years ago, I was finally an official Ph.D. candidate.
A year ago, I was sending off my first academic job applications.
None of these decisions were made for anyone else but me. I didn't consider geographic location or someone else's feelings. The people that I dated at the time I knew (deep down) were temporary missteps.
So flashforward to today. Today I'm in the enviable position of being in love. Aw. How sweet. I'm not finished.
As a result of this sweet, sweet love, I'm in the unenviable position of trying to find a tenure-track job close to N.A....who already has a tenure-track job.
Although I do tend to put others' needs ahead of my own, I'm not used to taking others into consideration when it comes to major life decisions. Sure, I could just cast a super-wide net, snag a job in another state, and force N.A. to choose between his awesome job and me.
Yeah. Not going to do that.
Hopefully, a year from now, I'll be blogging with NA by my side. We both have tenure-track jobs, and I don't have a commute.
Isn't it great how love brings out buckets of blind optimism?
