Almost four months since my last post… And it’s been a whirlwind. I’ve had several professional setbacks, making me question whether I’m likely to really have a viable future in the career path I chose. And I’ve come to question some of the fundamental things about my life here, considering some rather drastic changes.
So yeah, it’s been a busy few months.
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Posted by gatoruptown
Today I looked up the student evaluations from a class that I recently taught. Out of 21 students, 8 responded. And of those eight, one of them (who, mind you, earned an A- in the course) absolutely savaged me in her evaluation.
It’s disheartening, because the other students (the ones who bothered to complete the eval, that is) left really encouraging feedback. One said:
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Posted by gatoruptown
I recently posted about the year that had passed since finishing my Ph.D., and the journey that my career had taken since then. Almost completely overlapping that year, however, was another, grimmer anniversary.
My dad died one year ago today, on Friday the 13th of May, 2016. So I spent a little time going back through my blog and rereading everything I’d written about it, and pondering the important things that I deliberately didn’t write about at the time.
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Posted by gatoruptown
The last twelve months have included a stunning set of major changes in my life. I finished my Ph.D., said goodbye to my father, dealt with a seemingly-neverending series of legal and real estate issues related to dad’s estate, left the company that had employed me most of my adult life, and started up some new career paths.
It’s been quite the adventure, that’s for sure. And I’m just getting started.
So close that I can smell it! (Yes, I’m mixing metaphors, I know.)
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Posted by gatoruptown
For our honeymoon/anniversary/Sal’s birthday in 2015, we had a fabulous Italian adventure. Eyeing the conclusion of my Ph.D. a year later, we planned a celebratory return. Then my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and we postponed.
We’re trying again, and at this moment, we’ve made progress toward Florence but have hit a couple of hiccups.
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Posted by gatoruptown
Last week I got some very disappointing news: the faculty position for which I was a finalist is not going to be filled after all.
Naturally, I was crushed. But I’m trying to focus on silver linings and next steps.
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Posted by gatoruptown
Remember several weeks ago, when I said that I expected the next six months to include a little bit of teaching, a little bit of part-time consulting, and a lot of research and writing?
Yeah, I very poorly estimated the balance of that. I’m juggling like crazy, and not at all in the proportions that I expected.
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Posted by gatoruptown
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