In Medias Res # 28- Shit's Good.

I took a week off. I know you have a hard time without me, dear reader, but as the semester winds down I needed the time away. Part of writing this blog every week means sitting down and actually reflecting on (as Macy Gray so eloquently put it) “How Life is”. I know as Student Affairs practitioners we’re supposed to be encouraging reflection, but I’ve been apartment hunting and the process of reflecting on whether I can live with or without a dishwasher is sufficiently taxing. (Verdict: I can not in fact live without a dishwasher).
Part of the reason I’m moving is the commute and part of it is how wildly I underestimated my living costs. I could be spending a lot more on rent, and therefore have quite a few more amenities in my apartment. With said amenities I would also enjoy my apartment more which will make the extra rent worth it. That said, I don’t have to move- my apartment is perfectly fine if not a bit small and a bit old. I will only move if I find a place that I really want to live.
So that’s what I’ve been doing. I have also been enjoying the spring weather. It is surprising-dear reader- how much the weather has an effect on my emotional well being. Friday here was ugly and rainy. Saturday in contrast was gorgeous and I found myself feeling quite a bit more positive and optimistic. It was a sea change of sorts. It has me looking forward to the rest of spring and the coming summer.
I was chatting with a friend this weekend as we were walking to an outdoor concert. He’s in the middle of a relationship dissolving that maybe quite wasn’t a relationship. Anyway, he needed to talk. We did, and as polite people in these situations do he proceeded to ask me about my love life. Which is non-existent a fact I remain pretty comfortable with.
As I get ready to finish my first year here I find myself becoming increasingly comfortable as a professional. I am comfortable in the place I live. I like my job. Things are good. I’m sure I will have more to write next week as there is a wedding coming up and I will have college friends in town. That will certainly make me reflect on what I’m doing, where I’ve been. All the stuff you love dear reader. Right now though? Shit’s good.

In Medias Res # 27- Sucks to Be You

Man, you think job searching sucks? Try being on the other side of the table. I thought it would be fun, dear reader. I thought it would be novel getting to do recruitment: being on the other side of the table, ushering candidates back to my expertly decorated table, asking the questions that I cared about. And it was novel. For about twenty minutes. Then it became an unbearable slog through mediocrity, grating personalities, and bad wardrobe choices. I should note that we saw lots of great candidates. We really did. People whose resume and responses made you want to reach across the table and hug them. I found myself flush when someone showed a spark of creativity or reflection. These candidates- and there were many- woke me up, got my head back in the game, and reminded me why I love student affairs.
Unfortunately these people were VASTLY outnumbered by the other sort of candidate. The people who were interviewing with us out of desperation rather than real interest or passion for the position. The individuals who were skipping around from job to job, clearly trying to keep their head above water in a field which had burned through them. There were the people who had gone straight through from undergrad to grad school but had failed to make that crucial learning transition between student and educator.
I do not like interviewing candidates, I do not like it Sam I am.

I want to get on my soap box here for a minute and speak to the graduate educators. Are you listening? Good. I like you all. At different points in my life I have thought I might even want to be you. But some of you? Some of you must be slacking a little bit. I know you can only do so much quality control. You can’t force a person to write a competent cover letter or think before they speak in an interview. Those of you who work at programs who prepare great candidates, you know who you are and you can probably tune out at this point. I hate to sound like a snob (wait, seriously? I hate to sound like a snob? This blog is pure snobbery!), but when the right program popped up on a resume the interview was almost always pleasant. And then there were the WTF programs which inevitably produced WTF candidates. I know this isn’t law school. It’s not as if our field is flush with young bright talent. But some of these programs? You should be ashamed of yourselves.

ACPA otherwise was fun, but sort of dead. Did anyone feel like this was a smaller conference than normal? I went to quite a few good sessions, and I came back to work pretty excited to get started again. This weekend the weather was beautiful so I went apartment hunting. Found some interesting things, but I’m not exactly ready to sign a lease. In large part if I’m going to move the place has to be perfect. The process of moving is a bitch and therefore this apartment must be absolutely perfect. Or as near as possible.