Somewhere along the way, I completely missed my blog's birthday! So happy birthday to unbalanced reaction.
I started this blog during the start of my job application process. Although I never expected (or wanted) to end up in a visiting position, here I am. It couldn't be a better fit for me, both professionally and personally. My collegues are wonderfully supportive, my students are (mostly) open-minded and hardworking, and the whole environment is very intellectually stimulating for me. Although it sucks being so far away from N.A., if I hadn't taken this job, I would have accepted a tenure-track (or instructor--yikes) position even further away from N.A. Then we'd have the ultimate two-body problem: who gives up their TT position for the other?
Right now, we're trying to figure out the best job situation for me. Slowly, things seem to be falling into place. I haven't put any official applications out yet, and it's hard to get motivated to put out job applications for places far away from N.A. I know that it is important to cast a wide net as well as get leverage from offers (therefore putting pressure on institutions in N.A.'s area). I just hate wasting my own time (and that of letter writers) if I just end up staying here at TempCollege for another year or obtaining a job in N.A.'s area.
At any rate, stay posted! Who knows what unbalanced reaction's second year will bring?
Showing posts with label two-body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label two-body. Show all posts
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
The two-body problem
Although I would like to believe that if I just don't think about something, it doesn't exist, I can only avoid the two-body problem for so long. As I've mentioned before, N.A. has a tenure track position at a school many, many states away. It is a state I would love to live in. So while this makes our two-body problem somewhat easier--at least in the sense that I wouldn't be giving up anything location wise-- there is a catch. I have to freakin get a job offer in the state!
Something that both N.A. and I have been trying to sort out is how best to leverage his current position. I don't think I want to work at his school, but there are several other colleges near his. Should we advertise that we're attached in order to try to procure a job for me? Should I not mention our connection at all?
I really don't know what is best. We're not married, so I'm not sure if our relationship would even HAVE leverage. I also have some reservations about not getting a job completely on my own merits-- but then I also realize that I should use whatever I can to get the job I want.
Sigh. What to do? Any insight is appreciated.
In happier news, N.A. and I finally settled on travel plans! 11 days and counting!!
Something that both N.A. and I have been trying to sort out is how best to leverage his current position. I don't think I want to work at his school, but there are several other colleges near his. Should we advertise that we're attached in order to try to procure a job for me? Should I not mention our connection at all?
I really don't know what is best. We're not married, so I'm not sure if our relationship would even HAVE leverage. I also have some reservations about not getting a job completely on my own merits-- but then I also realize that I should use whatever I can to get the job I want.
Sigh. What to do? Any insight is appreciated.
In happier news, N.A. and I finally settled on travel plans! 11 days and counting!!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
What a difference a location makes...
It's so refreshing to return to my liberal arts roots. LargeU served its purpose: I got my degree from a top institution. But what a difference the change in location is.
My position at TempCollege is a temporary, one year position. In the coming months, I will be applying (again) for jobs. I want a tenure-track position at a small, liberal arts school. Preferably near N.A. (The two-body problem is so stressful, that I'll have to post about it at a later time.) We'll see what happens.
At LargeU, professors were stopping me in the hall to tell me what a tragic mistake I was making. They recognized (as I did) that by choosing to go the SLAC route, I would be removing myself from my current research field. "You're too good! Why would you not do a post-doc and apply for better jobs?" I heard this several times a week. However, I knew what I was doing. The product of academic parents, I grew up in the shadow of a huge R1 institution. I do not want that lifestyle. Although there is a lot of discussion in the blogosphere on how things should change, etc. etc., I know that they won't in my lifetime...or at least tenuretime.
Even though classes haven't started, I already feel at home at TempCollege. My colleagues are amazing, and I've met numerous faculty from other disciplines. Everyone is exceptionally warm, helpful, and supportive. Here I am actually encouraged to go the SLAC route (of course), and phone calls have already been made on my behalf.
By this time next year, I'll either be starting my dream job or be scrambling for work. Let's hope it's the former!
My position at TempCollege is a temporary, one year position. In the coming months, I will be applying (again) for jobs. I want a tenure-track position at a small, liberal arts school. Preferably near N.A. (The two-body problem is so stressful, that I'll have to post about it at a later time.) We'll see what happens.
At LargeU, professors were stopping me in the hall to tell me what a tragic mistake I was making. They recognized (as I did) that by choosing to go the SLAC route, I would be removing myself from my current research field. "You're too good! Why would you not do a post-doc and apply for better jobs?" I heard this several times a week. However, I knew what I was doing. The product of academic parents, I grew up in the shadow of a huge R1 institution. I do not want that lifestyle. Although there is a lot of discussion in the blogosphere on how things should change, etc. etc., I know that they won't in my lifetime...or at least tenuretime.
Even though classes haven't started, I already feel at home at TempCollege. My colleagues are amazing, and I've met numerous faculty from other disciplines. Everyone is exceptionally warm, helpful, and supportive. Here I am actually encouraged to go the SLAC route (of course), and phone calls have already been made on my behalf.
By this time next year, I'll either be starting my dream job or be scrambling for work. Let's hope it's the former!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Let the games begin!
And by games I mean the start of our long distance relationship / two-body problem.
N.A. leaves in the morning (and by morning I mean 4 am).
Given how not in sync our respective faculty training schedules / start of classes are, we won't be able to see each other until at least Labor Day, if not later.
:(
N.A. leaves in the morning (and by morning I mean 4 am).
Given how not in sync our respective faculty training schedules / start of classes are, we won't be able to see each other until at least Labor Day, if not later.
:(
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
growing pains
I have less than two weeks remaining at LargeU. I feel behind on everything. Although N.A. took a lot of my stuff to Tenure Track state, I still have lots of odd 'n' ends, books, and clothes that need to get packed. I haven't touched my desk at work (at which I spend at least 10 hours a day as my wet lab work has been nonexistent for the last nine months or so). And don't even get me started on how much stuff I have to clean in the wet lab, including at least 50 buffer bottles left behind by Undergrad (which is a story in and of itself).
Coworker (actually, all of them) are in total freakout mode due to a combination of several of us leaving as well as The Boss being out of town for several weeks. This means that I had to go in all day Saturday and Sunday (not that uncommon though) in order to get caught up. Forget getting a paper written this summer; I'll be lucky just to get through the data.
And to top it all off, N.A. and I can't seem to get back to Normal Communication. Instead, we both overreact to everything the other says. I can hear myself getting shrill, and it even annoys me, but I can't seem to stop. I know that part of it is due to complete exhaustion from sleep deprivation and the other is reacting to his sudden announcement that he is leaving this weekend (THIS weekend!). I'm freaking out because I don't want him to leave while we're having all these spats.
In reality, I shouldn't be freaking out about packing, my work, or N.A. I should be enjoying my last time as a grad student / post doc. I should be getting ready for my first faculty position. I should be playing around with my new camera (Nikon D80! Woot, woot, as my students would say).
Instead, I feel myself slipping. Sure, The Boss is happy with my results, and N.A. and I will get through this. But come three weeks from now, when I'm at TempCollege all by myself, I know I'm going to regret how we're leaving things.
Coworker (actually, all of them) are in total freakout mode due to a combination of several of us leaving as well as The Boss being out of town for several weeks. This means that I had to go in all day Saturday and Sunday (not that uncommon though) in order to get caught up. Forget getting a paper written this summer; I'll be lucky just to get through the data.
And to top it all off, N.A. and I can't seem to get back to Normal Communication. Instead, we both overreact to everything the other says. I can hear myself getting shrill, and it even annoys me, but I can't seem to stop. I know that part of it is due to complete exhaustion from sleep deprivation and the other is reacting to his sudden announcement that he is leaving this weekend (THIS weekend!). I'm freaking out because I don't want him to leave while we're having all these spats.
In reality, I shouldn't be freaking out about packing, my work, or N.A. I should be enjoying my last time as a grad student / post doc. I should be getting ready for my first faculty position. I should be playing around with my new camera (Nikon D80! Woot, woot, as my students would say).
Instead, I feel myself slipping. Sure, The Boss is happy with my results, and N.A. and I will get through this. But come three weeks from now, when I'm at TempCollege all by myself, I know I'm going to regret how we're leaving things.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
empty house
N.A. packed up most of my stuff and his and drove it to his new state yesterday. 25 hours of driving in two days (round trip...he'll be back in a few hours).
As a result, I'm sleeping on the floor. My apartment in TempCollege village is furnished, so we decided to be optimistic about our two-body problem and go ahead and take most of my stuff to his state (where he will start his tenure-track position Aug 1).
By "optimistic about our two-body problem" I mean the following:
- that our six-ish month relationship can survive nine months living in separate states
- that I can be okay with possibly making compromises in my career for a man
- that I can find jobs in N.A.'s new state to apply to in the fall
- that I can get interviews and get a job in N.A.'s new state next spring
To say that I'm nervous would be a gross understatement.
As a result, I'm sleeping on the floor. My apartment in TempCollege village is furnished, so we decided to be optimistic about our two-body problem and go ahead and take most of my stuff to his state (where he will start his tenure-track position Aug 1).
By "optimistic about our two-body problem" I mean the following:
- that our six-ish month relationship can survive nine months living in separate states
- that I can be okay with possibly making compromises in my career for a man
- that I can find jobs in N.A.'s new state to apply to in the fall
- that I can get interviews and get a job in N.A.'s new state next spring
To say that I'm nervous would be a gross understatement.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
did I mention I hate moving?
As I've previously mentioned, N.A. will be going to a tenure-track position many, many states away from my temporary faculty job. Because I'm moving into a furnished apartment, the plan has been for my furniture as well as as much of my stuff as possible, to go down with N.A. to his state. This move was slated to occur mid to late July, leaving me bedless for at most two weeks. This also would give me several weeks to sort through all my crap in an organized manner.
Today, N.A. casually said (on the phone), "I think I'm going to move next Sunday. Do you think that your stuff will be packed by then?"
Commence freakout.
Today, N.A. casually said (on the phone), "I think I'm going to move next Sunday. Do you think that your stuff will be packed by then?"
Commence freakout.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Visiting Assistant Prof, explained
Today I got another rejection letter. This surprised me somewhat, seeing as I applied for it back in October, but I was not bothered by it because
1. The search was cancelled so State School wasn't rejecting ME they were rejecting everyone (at least that's what I told myself).
2. I already have a job.
In case you didn't get the news release, I'll be taking a visiting assistant professor position at a small, liberal arts college.
I realize that probably about half of you just collectively nodded your heads knowingly, thinking "oh no, there she goes down the sabbatical rabbithole."
If you had told me in October 2007 (when I started my applications) that I would ultimately end up in a temporary teaching position, I would have laughed in your face. So why my change of heart?
I applied to a dozen or places, a mix of tenure-track, visiting, and instructor positions. Half contacted me for an interview, three sent rejections, and three cancelled their searches. This visiting position is at a really good school (that I had never heard of naturally), in the middle of nowhere, in a location of the country that I have never lived before. I don't know anyone in a 300 mile radius. I will be 2 hours from a Target.
Why the hell would I subject myself to such a remote location for just a one-year position?
It was the perfect fit. The faculty are amazing. Half are female and six out of eight are under 35. I will be mentored within the department, my teaching assignments rock, and my colleagues are committed to helping me move on to my next (tenure-track) position. The students are amazing. The facilities are insane.
In terms of my personal life, N.A. had accepted his faculty position (a tenure-track position at a top-notch school more than 900 miles away) just before we started dating (a mere four months ago, although it feels much longer...is that a good thing?). This year will give me a chance to sort out what exactly I want to do, as well as hopefully get closer (geographically) to N.A.
Am I damning myself to a string of visiting positions? Will I survive a long-distance relationship and overcome a two-body problem without compromising my career? We'll just have to see how things work out!
1. The search was cancelled so State School wasn't rejecting ME they were rejecting everyone (at least that's what I told myself).
2. I already have a job.
In case you didn't get the news release, I'll be taking a visiting assistant professor position at a small, liberal arts college.
I realize that probably about half of you just collectively nodded your heads knowingly, thinking "oh no, there she goes down the sabbatical rabbithole."
If you had told me in October 2007 (when I started my applications) that I would ultimately end up in a temporary teaching position, I would have laughed in your face. So why my change of heart?
I applied to a dozen or places, a mix of tenure-track, visiting, and instructor positions. Half contacted me for an interview, three sent rejections, and three cancelled their searches. This visiting position is at a really good school (that I had never heard of naturally), in the middle of nowhere, in a location of the country that I have never lived before. I don't know anyone in a 300 mile radius. I will be 2 hours from a Target.
Why the hell would I subject myself to such a remote location for just a one-year position?
It was the perfect fit. The faculty are amazing. Half are female and six out of eight are under 35. I will be mentored within the department, my teaching assignments rock, and my colleagues are committed to helping me move on to my next (tenure-track) position. The students are amazing. The facilities are insane.
In terms of my personal life, N.A. had accepted his faculty position (a tenure-track position at a top-notch school more than 900 miles away) just before we started dating (a mere four months ago, although it feels much longer...is that a good thing?). This year will give me a chance to sort out what exactly I want to do, as well as hopefully get closer (geographically) to N.A.
Am I damning myself to a string of visiting positions? Will I survive a long-distance relationship and overcome a two-body problem without compromising my career? We'll just have to see how things work out!
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