In Medias Res #31: Medias almost over, res now

I’m writing this post as a way of procrastinating. Who would have though that the summer would be so busy? Even with my semester and yearly reports out of the way I still have a huge to do pile to get through. Part of the time crunch is a result of my move to a new office. I didn’t get a new position or anything, just a bigger office space in a newer building. Exciting right? Fortunately I’ve known about this move for quite some time so I have been setting up this office with the expectation that I will have to move it all soon.
Speaking of moving I just left my cool downtown third floor walk up for a bigger, newer apartment right near campus. When I came out here (around this time of year actually) to go apartment hunting I was convinced I wanted to live away from campus. I wanted to be around other young people in a neighborhood that had nothing to do with the school. While I still stand by that belief too many middle of the night commutes home after student events had convinced me I needed to find a new place. I looked for a long time at places all over my price range before finally finding the perfect place. Its huge. It has wood floors. It has a washer dryer. I can walk to the park. I can walk to work.
Now that I’m more or less unpacked I’ve come to a cruel realization though. Every piece of furniture I own is a hand me down from graduate school. My old apartment was small, and the fact that it was a third floor walk up sort of precluded any desire on my part for carrying up lots of new furniture. Getting groceries upstairs was enough of a pain in the ass.
This new place, while only a few bucks a month more in rent, is twice the size which means I have two rooms in my new place completely devoid of furniture. So I am going furniture shopping this weekend, dear reader. I think I’m even going to buy a dresser in addition to the much needed couch and dining room table.
What does any of this have to do with being a new professional? Well, smartass, I’m settling in. I looked back over the posts from my job search, and if there is a recurrent theme it is this: peeved and cranky. That year was a rough year. In comparison the recurrent meme for this year seems to be comfortable. I’m comfortable in my job. I’m comfortable in my city. I’m comfortable in my skin. My major project for this summer is to maybe find some new experiences that will make me a little uncomfortable. And maybe tighten up some of that skin.
Last year at the end of the blog I gave some lessons. I think the job search is a uniform enough process that what I said then, I still stand by. This year I don’t think I can offer you, dear reader, suggestions tips or guidance. If you live on? You experience will be nothing like mine. If you live off? It will still be completely different because you don’t do my job at my institution. If there is any piece of advice I could offer: it is to be very very intentional about fostering a life outside of work. Even if all your friends work at the University, have a glass of wine with them away from the residence halls. I love my students, but I still firmly believe in the sort of boundaries that drove me to that apartment on the other side of town.
I know I got lucky. Most of my success here was a combination of excellent graduate preparation and a good institutional fit. I didn’t experience explosive growth like I did in graduate school. The learning I did as a professional was pretty small scale and incremental. What I got out of this year was a fantastic sense of self and place (seriously, it feels much better than it sounds), and an idea of how my future might unfold.
I think this is my last post at least for the summer. It has been fun sharing my first year as a professional with you, dear reader.