Early Christmas

For the past few days, I'd been feeling a little glum, because I hadn't heard back from CWU after what I'd thought had been a pretty awesome interview. Then, yesterday afternoon, when I'd nearly given up all hope, the phone rang. It was Teresa (the director of the CWU main campus writing center), telling me that they'd narrowed the field to two candidates, and I was one of the finalists! We talked for about 45 minutes, sort of a mini follow-up interview, clarifying a few final questions. She hinted during this phone call that I was her first choice, and she said she'd call back as soon as the committee had made its decision.

This afternoon at about 12:00, the phone rang. Michael and I nearly jumped out of our seats, as we'd been sitting for the past half hour or so staring at the phone and willing it to ring (apparently that really does work). Teresa offered me the job, and as of about 12:15 this afternoon, I'm the new CWU Des Moines writing consultant. I'm THE person to go to with writing questions on that little campus. It's my job to get this new writing center off the ground and flying. I'll be the entire writing center for the first few quarters, but as the center grows I'll be training new tutors to help me. I can't even begin to try to explain how ecstatic and excited I am (or how close to being in complete shock). Teresa had all sorts of complementary things to say about how well my interview had gone and expressed enthusiasm for my tutoring abilities. She sounded genuinely thrilled that I'd accepted the job, and I'm honestly thrilled to be working with her as a director. She's done amazing things for the CWU writing center, and I hope that with her mentorship I'll be able to help grow the CWU Des Moines writing center into something great as well.

I am heading to Ellensburg shortly after the new year for a new faculty orientation (and to get my new laptop--one of the perks of the job). While I officially start January 3, I'll likely be spending some time on campus before then, figuring out where my new office is and setting up everything so that I'm ready to jump right in to tutoring.

I'll be a little bit sad to leave Career Link and my kids, of course. The hardest part of today was going to North to tell people I wouldn't be returning for winter quarter. They're all so great and supportive, and they made it easier on me that I thought it might be, but it is still pretty sad to think that I won't be working with them anymore. I am going to stay in touch with the program though. Nancy said I could become a member of the Technical Advisory Committee, and I told her to definitely sign me up, so I'll still be going to meetings and staying a part of the program in a volunteer capacity. I'll go back for a morning during the first week of classes to say goodbye to the kids, and I'll spend a few days in my old office there before I start at CWU, organizing and setting things up for the new teacher, so there will be files on each of my students' programs and the kids won't be set back in meeting their goals.

Mostly, right now I'm in a sort of happy daze. I got the job! A real, career building, life-changing, challenging, amazing job! I can hardly wait to get started, even while I can't quite believe it's happening. The little dream I'd been building in the back of my head is becoming a reality: when Michael graduates in June, we'll be able to find some sort of perfect little place for us south of the city somewhere, and I'll start to build my career in earnest, as he finishes his education at the UW. It still seems very unreal, but I suppose very shortly it'll start to sink in: I got the job!