#1 question
The #1 question I am asked is, “why did you move to Vermont?” or some variation.
The quick answer: “I came for a job.”
The long answer: “Why not?”
I remember sitting in my father’s little Hyundai driving up 93 last fall, saying, “something’s changing. We’re not all going to be together for much longer.” My family has been a solid unit forever. We all lived absurdly close to each other and were in each other’s lives so much it felt constrictive sometimes. That’s the way we were though and we liked it.
In December of last year, my younger brother went on a job interview in Virginia. When he came back, convinced he didn’t get it, I quietly sighed in relief. The thought of him moving to Virginia momentarily paralyzed me. The Sheriff’s department called him back, however, and he went on a series of interviews and tests and it became clear that Virginia was his future. It killed me to say goodbye but it is his dream.
At the same time, mumblings of moving closer to his job in Rhode Island were coming from my brother, Jamie.
At the same time, my work in Boston left me listless. I could go no higher in the company that I worked for and, really, accounting is not what I want to do with my life. I had been casually looking for jobs since I got back from London but needed a catalyst. I loved my job and the people, but I needed something else - something that required me to use my very expensive piece of paper from UML.
My parents had been talking about retiring/moving to Maine for a year or so - longer than that, really but talking seriously for a year or so. In the spring, they bought a house in upstate Maine. My father announced his early retirement at work and suddenly everyone had a plan but me.
Finding a new job became a second job for me. I scoured internet sites and search engines. Staying in Massachusetts was not an option. I wanted a new adventure that didn’t involve my birth state. My friend Lisa goes to grad school in Chicago and I sent applications there. I have family in Pennsylvania, resumes and cover letters went there. The Southwest even seemed an option at one point but I couldn’t find much out there but cheap housing. Cheap housing is good but without a job it does me no good.
Vermont has always been a favorite place for me. I can remember walking with my father in Stowe on a family vacation when I was in junior high. Take the ocean and beach; I’m a mountain girl. He compared the green mountains to the Bavarian Alps in Germany. That pretty much sold it for me.
Almost ten years ago (!), I met up with a friend in the Upper Valley just over the border in Vermont. We drove up to Montreal and I spent most of the ride looking out the windows, oohing and ahhing. It was so green! And lush! There were so many cows! And Burlington is one of the coolest cities I’ve visited. Half the fun of spending the weekend in Montreal, for me, was the ride up along 91.
The bulk of my job applications went to Dartmouth College, on the New Hampshire side of the NH/VT border. They turned me down more times than I care to admit but I continued to apply. The job I have now, I stumbled across. It was only listed in the newspaper for one week and I applied thinking there was no way that I would get it. An email followed, however, and I drove up for the interview. My boss in Boston and I talked before I left; I told him that I would resign by the end of the summer at the latest (never thinking that I would get the first job I interviewed for). Driving up for the interview only reinforced my desire to move north. By this time, after years of visiting friends and passing through, I knew local stores and how to get around. I wanted to move here so bad. It’s one of the most beautiful places to me. Thank god I got the job or I’d be living in my car, still hunting.
Jobs up here are somewhat scarce so it’s always a bit of surprise for people to learn that I moved to take a job. If you move here, I guess, typically you’ve been transferred here. There are positives and negatives but, so far, the positives far outweigh everything else. I plan on staying for quite some time, which is the 2nd most common question I get asked: “how long do you plan on staying?” That one doesn’t have a definite answer yet but so far, so good.
The quick answer: “I came for a job.”
The long answer: “Why not?”
I remember sitting in my father’s little Hyundai driving up 93 last fall, saying, “something’s changing. We’re not all going to be together for much longer.” My family has been a solid unit forever. We all lived absurdly close to each other and were in each other’s lives so much it felt constrictive sometimes. That’s the way we were though and we liked it.
In December of last year, my younger brother went on a job interview in Virginia. When he came back, convinced he didn’t get it, I quietly sighed in relief. The thought of him moving to Virginia momentarily paralyzed me. The Sheriff’s department called him back, however, and he went on a series of interviews and tests and it became clear that Virginia was his future. It killed me to say goodbye but it is his dream.
At the same time, mumblings of moving closer to his job in Rhode Island were coming from my brother, Jamie.
At the same time, my work in Boston left me listless. I could go no higher in the company that I worked for and, really, accounting is not what I want to do with my life. I had been casually looking for jobs since I got back from London but needed a catalyst. I loved my job and the people, but I needed something else - something that required me to use my very expensive piece of paper from UML.
My parents had been talking about retiring/moving to Maine for a year or so - longer than that, really but talking seriously for a year or so. In the spring, they bought a house in upstate Maine. My father announced his early retirement at work and suddenly everyone had a plan but me.
Finding a new job became a second job for me. I scoured internet sites and search engines. Staying in Massachusetts was not an option. I wanted a new adventure that didn’t involve my birth state. My friend Lisa goes to grad school in Chicago and I sent applications there. I have family in Pennsylvania, resumes and cover letters went there. The Southwest even seemed an option at one point but I couldn’t find much out there but cheap housing. Cheap housing is good but without a job it does me no good.
Vermont has always been a favorite place for me. I can remember walking with my father in Stowe on a family vacation when I was in junior high. Take the ocean and beach; I’m a mountain girl. He compared the green mountains to the Bavarian Alps in Germany. That pretty much sold it for me.
Almost ten years ago (!), I met up with a friend in the Upper Valley just over the border in Vermont. We drove up to Montreal and I spent most of the ride looking out the windows, oohing and ahhing. It was so green! And lush! There were so many cows! And Burlington is one of the coolest cities I’ve visited. Half the fun of spending the weekend in Montreal, for me, was the ride up along 91.
The bulk of my job applications went to Dartmouth College, on the New Hampshire side of the NH/VT border. They turned me down more times than I care to admit but I continued to apply. The job I have now, I stumbled across. It was only listed in the newspaper for one week and I applied thinking there was no way that I would get it. An email followed, however, and I drove up for the interview. My boss in Boston and I talked before I left; I told him that I would resign by the end of the summer at the latest (never thinking that I would get the first job I interviewed for). Driving up for the interview only reinforced my desire to move north. By this time, after years of visiting friends and passing through, I knew local stores and how to get around. I wanted to move here so bad. It’s one of the most beautiful places to me. Thank god I got the job or I’d be living in my car, still hunting.
Jobs up here are somewhat scarce so it’s always a bit of surprise for people to learn that I moved to take a job. If you move here, I guess, typically you’ve been transferred here. There are positives and negatives but, so far, the positives far outweigh everything else. I plan on staying for quite some time, which is the 2nd most common question I get asked: “how long do you plan on staying?” That one doesn’t have a definite answer yet but so far, so good.