Home Again

I spent the past two nights in Ellensburg on the CWU main campus, signing my contract and picking up things like my new laptop and a few books I didn't already have that I feel every writing center should have. I've never had such a warm reception to a new job in my life. I felt like a movie star the whole time. Teresa introduced me to the Ellensburg writing center staff by telling them how excited she is to have me joining their team. Then I had a meeting with the vice provost of undergraduate studies (one of the most powerful people on campus), which I was nervous about, because this is the man who signs my paychecks. He's actually a very nice man who greeted me with a friendly handshake and a huge smile before ushering me into an office with Dr. Seuss books on a table near the door.

I wondered if it might feel weird to be back on the CWU campus after over two years away from Ellensburg, but the moment I set foot on campus, it felt like I'd never left. I felt right at home again immediately, which I'm taking as a sign that CWU is the right place for me to work.

On Thursday afternoon I had time to wander around the campus because I didn't have any meetings scheduled until Friday morning. I'd come over the pass a day early to avoid the snowstorm that was predicted for Friday morning, and I'm really glad that I did. Sandy (the CWU Lynwood writing consultant) hit the inclement weather Friday morning and missed the first faculty development activity entirely. On Thursday, I was able to see a lot of my former professors and catch up on some of the campus gossip. I had really nice visits with my writing center mentor, Rob, and two members of my thesis committee. It was fun to hear about everyone's new projects, especially Lila's (she finally had a paper accepted for presentation at the MLA conference, a HUGE deal in the English studies world). I got lots of hugs from people who didn't have much time to chat, and there were many congratulations.

Friday was the movie star day, and I spent most of the day in a happy daze, shaking hands and making new friends right and left. The day ended with a party at Teresa's house where there was great food and wonderful conversation. One of the things that impresses me most about the writing center faculty Teresa has put together is the great diversity of areas of study among the staff members. So many writing centers employ mainly English majors, but Teresa has recruited from all over campus. I had interesting conversations with graduate students from the history department, the animal psychology department, and the theater department in addition to some really great literary conversations with the English majors.

This morning, I got up early for a meeting with Teresa in order to finish going over all the new procedures I'll be following, and so that she could finish showing me how to use the functions I'll need on my new computer. She's going to be absolutely wonderful to work with; she has a personality that I really click with, and we laughed at the same silly little things all morning.

Now I'm home again. I think the only drawback to the whole trip was how much I missed Michael while I was away. I've not often stayed in a hotel by myself, and it was really creepy to go back there at night and be entirely by myself when I'm so used to having Michael there at the end of the day when I want someone to hug and talk with. I had a great time in Ellensburg, but I'm really happy to be home.