I'm at a coffee shop applying for jobs that I am either overqualified for or under-qualified for and listening to music that is either too sad (Elliot Smith) or too stupid (R Kelly). TSU sent some of us letters that we'd probably go from full-time to part-time in the spring. This means: get a second job and don't have a health crisis because you won't be getting any insurance. Thus, the job search is on for spring and fall. Sad. But not surprising.
Here's a statistic that I just learned:
Long-term adjuncting means losing self-respect. Friends and family rarely know the odds, that only 40 percent of English Ph.D.'s will ever get tenure-track jobs. Nonacademics rarely know that one has to be able to move anywhere, to strange and unknown locales, to land a semi-permanent, reasonably-paying job.
Maybe this is interesting. Maybe it is depressing. I like to think that those of who want to teach will be the exception?
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4 comments:
I'm pretty sure my health is suffering this year, and that's saying something after three years of mfa debauchery. It's a grind, but another option has yet to speak any louder.
I hope this is the year xmas brings us all a big ass box o' security.
I hear you girl. CSUMB basically said to me they're not so sure I'll have classes in the spring (even though they told me in the summer they would). Wonderful.
Sarah, that sucks! I'm so sorry. I'm crossing my fingers for all of us. You know, things come up.
Brett Anthony Johnston come to TSU this week and was wonderful. What I took from my conversations with him was that the way out (or at least the way to a more secure job) is to write and publish. And really, we're all doing that. So for what it is worth, he was impressed with our collective publication record, teaching placement and ambition. (I bragged about all of us. I bragged about Bearden's novel, and Iron Horse and McSweeneys and Redivder and Arkansas Review and Pheobe and the Million Writers nomination for Stickman). He reminded me that we've only been out of the program for a semester. It felt good to remember that.
sarah, for some reason, i thought you'd be exempt from this kind of craziness - like they've got it figured out in california. i guess not.
i'm emailing my friend who works as a disabilities screener for the state today to see about a job. i'm just going to do it.
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