Life Changes
Perhaps if I describe my current situation, it will both explain and excuse my long silence. My school is closing (not a shock) and I find myself unemployed. My Husband's mother passed away just before my last week, and as a result I ended up taking all the personal time I would have lost to be with him and help make arrangements. So I ended up working only 1 day my last week. I went in today and cleaned out my belongings and tied up all loose ends.
If I can navigate the Unemployment Maze, I will not be opposed by the Company, of which I am not allowed to speak any ill, per my severance agreement. And, scariest of all: I'm enrolled in graduate classes at NKU starting Monday.
My initial idea when this happened was I should go back and earn a PhD in Comp and Rhetoric. I want to teach writing in a Community or small college. I never want to teach in a For-Profit Institution again. I am fairly flexible about where I live and while I'd like full time, I could handle some adjunct work. I wasn't finding even that this summer, when I was so desperately looking.
It's far to late to apply for 2012 PhD programs, so I'm shooting for 2013. I'm studying for the GRE general and subject tests. I was just going to audit some classes at Northern Kentucky University, which has a MA in English and is 10 minutes from my house, but I found I could get financial aid to apply as a MA candidate, and they accepted me on very short notice. I am hoping to get to teach real freshman Comp classes in the Spring in return for a tuition waiver. It's valuable experience, perhaps enough to get me in teaching somewhere if I don't get accepted to a PhD program immediately. I can probably finish the Certificate Program in Comp and Rhetoric by next Fall at the latest, which may also open more doors.
My severance covers the Fall Term, and I might still get a day teaching job of some kind. We should make it on unemployment for a while. I'm oddly less scared about that than about walking into a graduate seminar after 20 years away (I earned my MA in 1993 and actually finished taking classes in 1990).
Mostly, I'm excited to find there's now a niche for my interests in a way literary studies never offered. I have things to offer about writing, and I want to learn more about how it works. One of my classes is about Theories of Community Literacy. If nothing else, I'll have some specific answers next time I get in an interview about what I could offer not just to my students but to the discipline.
Anyway, I'm likely to be here at least once a week. One can only read theory, or check Facebook, or look at pictures of Cats so many hours a day. Will now go off to check the last few weeks/ months of the F-list.
Oh-- And Wee Hob is a Senior! I will have lots more time to redirect him now. He's being pretty tolerant so far of his crazy mom.
If I can navigate the Unemployment Maze, I will not be opposed by the Company, of which I am not allowed to speak any ill, per my severance agreement. And, scariest of all: I'm enrolled in graduate classes at NKU starting Monday.
My initial idea when this happened was I should go back and earn a PhD in Comp and Rhetoric. I want to teach writing in a Community or small college. I never want to teach in a For-Profit Institution again. I am fairly flexible about where I live and while I'd like full time, I could handle some adjunct work. I wasn't finding even that this summer, when I was so desperately looking.
It's far to late to apply for 2012 PhD programs, so I'm shooting for 2013. I'm studying for the GRE general and subject tests. I was just going to audit some classes at Northern Kentucky University, which has a MA in English and is 10 minutes from my house, but I found I could get financial aid to apply as a MA candidate, and they accepted me on very short notice. I am hoping to get to teach real freshman Comp classes in the Spring in return for a tuition waiver. It's valuable experience, perhaps enough to get me in teaching somewhere if I don't get accepted to a PhD program immediately. I can probably finish the Certificate Program in Comp and Rhetoric by next Fall at the latest, which may also open more doors.
My severance covers the Fall Term, and I might still get a day teaching job of some kind. We should make it on unemployment for a while. I'm oddly less scared about that than about walking into a graduate seminar after 20 years away (I earned my MA in 1993 and actually finished taking classes in 1990).
Mostly, I'm excited to find there's now a niche for my interests in a way literary studies never offered. I have things to offer about writing, and I want to learn more about how it works. One of my classes is about Theories of Community Literacy. If nothing else, I'll have some specific answers next time I get in an interview about what I could offer not just to my students but to the discipline.
Anyway, I'm likely to be here at least once a week. One can only read theory, or check Facebook, or look at pictures of Cats so many hours a day. Will now go off to check the last few weeks/ months of the F-list.
Oh-- And Wee Hob is a Senior! I will have lots more time to redirect him now. He's being pretty tolerant so far of his crazy mom.