Wow, soon it will have been three months of living in Chicago. That's a lot of time in baby years. Moving rarely brings about the sea of change one thinks it will. Bills still keep coming, the kitchen is still a mess, and the best is always yet to come, at least we hope it is. But overall, guess I can't complain.
I haven't blogged about the job a lot. That's because people who blog about their job too often end up fired. Not my idea of a career change. But I guess I won't be fired if I divulge that overall Loyola is a pretty unique place, something about that Jesuit tradition really makes it special. Most of the students I have in my classes are nice, considerate and mature people, who care for the world around them. More mature than I was at their age. They have so much to think and worry about. Very few of them display the cynicism, apathy and sense of entitlement I encountered at some of the other places I taught. They are not all A-students of course, but they all seem to be pretty aware and responsible and are pleasant to interact with. Loyola is not a party school, and it shows. Sometimes I think I am the only one with a hang over in the room....
For the rest, the job is treating me well. I have a lot of independence to do my own things when I am not teaching and that's great. The relative independence of this work is what makes life in academia appealing to me. The program is also going through a lot of changes, so it is kind of exciting to be here and see where it all goes. We are hiring tons of new faculty for the next year and I ended up on some of the hiring committees. That will probably mean quite some extra work between November and March, but I feel a strange sense of excitement to be part of the hiring process. The last two years I was on the other side of the fence, trying to figure out how these hiring committees work so I could compile the most effective application. Now I feel like my curiosity will be satisfied.
Posted by vana0047 at October 19, 2007 02:21 AM