the semester is winding down.
submitted my final grades yesterday (two days late!).
will participate in yet another graduation ceremony tomorrow afternoon. it's a chicano/a graduation, and i'm one of two chicano/a ph.d's participating! (actually, i'm just looking for an excuse to wear the muffin hat again).
my last paycheck will dated june 1st.
my new paychecks will not be dated until august 1st.
so i've decided to do what normal people do. i went out and got myself an 8AM-5PM, monday through friday, JOB.
i will be basically acting as someone's secretary for the next several weeks. answering phones, scheduling appointments, dealing with vendors, probably typing, filing, etc. i'm quite qualified for the position. i have excellent phone manners. and i can type like the dickens.
i have to confess.
i do not want to do this kind of work. i want to continue to sit in coffeeshops and brainstorm my next article (or actually write the article i was supposed to have written two months ago). read up on all the latest immigration literature. plan my fall syllabus. and field work! i want to travel to south texas and conduct interviews. engage in participant observation of the emerging mexican american arts scene in the valley.
but all of that requires money.
thus my dilemma.
resolved by answering phones, scheduling appointments, dealing with vendors, typing, filing, etc.
sometimes i wish i were a trustfund baby. or that i would win the lottery (which, i guess, would necessitate me buying a ticket every once in a while). in the meantime, i just do what i gotta do.
*sigh*
@>-->>---
8 comments:
Honestly, if I could have things my way, I would make it a requirement that all academics spend a few months out of the year in the 'real world'. Spending so much time sheltered behind University walls, surrounded by like minded individuals, and only reading about what goes on outside, has a way of making academics unconnected from reality. It is the reason why, for example, academia is the last bastion of people who think communism should be given another chance.
So please, roll up your sleeves, put your hair back, and jump right into the real world head first. It will be yet another learning experience for you, that's for sure. :-)
Jenn:
Girl, I am with you. Life would be grand if we were trustfund babies, wouldn't it? It can't hurt to dream. (or play the lottery?
As for HP ...when was the last time he rolled up his sleeves and joined the "real world?" ;-)
Oh well, go get your money on girl. The summer will be long and hot but there will be an end in sight. At least your job will be in an air conditioned place, right?
just keep in mind that this whole 'real job' thing is only for the summer and it will most likely be the last time you have to do it... so, like HP said: "roll up your sleeves, put your hair back, and jump right into the real world head first."
just keep in mind that this whole 'real job' thing is only for the summer and it will most likely be the last time you have to do it... so, like HP said: "roll up your sleeves, put your hair back, and jump right into the real world head first."
Congratulations Jenn, on your employment.
I'm not in academia, maybe just "babydemia", teaching at the high school level. Actually, a 40 hour a week job would be a break - it would probably cut back about 20 hours a week on grading and lesson preparation nights and week ends. Also, I hear in the real world they have lunch and coffee breaks. Is that true HP? Something to thank the unions for.
Most of us got into teaching by doing something else first - it took me about 20 years of other work. For others, it's how they work their way through. Most university professors I know haven't left the real world either - they live there, volunteer there, and many are doing things to make the real world better.
Visiting someone else's work world would probably be good for all of us though, whether in education or not. Unfortunately, our lives are so bound up in work, that we are often divided into little enclaves of workers, working among people like us, with little concept of the world outside our group.
thanks for all of your well-wishes as i prepare to enter this new work phase.
kjerringa, i wanted to thank you for pointing out that many university professors have not left the real world, but continue to work in local communities as teachers, volunteers, activists, etc.
wish me luck tomorrow!
Does this mean a cubicle? You're a brave woman ... my prayers are with you.
hope the job goes well...it may be the "real world," but the hours still stink.
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