Never Say Never - Brady

Life in Chicago has been plugging along. It's been a gorgeous fall full of beautiful leaves, camping, apple cider donuts, hot lattes, and runs with our now much more energetic puppy dog.

It's also the time of year when people in their last year of graduate school start to think about the job market. Academic positions are posted almost a year in advance of the start date, so before you even have substantial work done on your dissertation you have to start strategizing about what you'll do when it's finished.

When I started graduate school, I swore there was no way I would take more than five years to complete my program. I initially aimed to finish in four, a year early, actually, which obviously didn't work out. However, now that I'm faced with the realities of the life after school I've begun to understand why you might stretch our your studies for an extra year. It's hard, as you might imagine, to feel ready to job applications and interviews when you don't have any study findings yet. And I still don't feel totally ready to say "Yes, we're staying in Chicago for sure" or "No, we're open to moving other places."

It's funny how life works. You think you have things all planned out...you have a list of things you'll absolutely never, ever consider doing...until you do.

After talking to Kevin, to my fellow grad students, and to my advisor, I've decided, basically, not to decide right now. My strategy is to continue to work as if I'm going to graduate in June or August of this year. However, right now I'm only applying to jobs I'm really excited about - jobs that would be perfect. For example, a position in the department of education at a liberal arts school outside of Chicago opened up a few months ago, so I put my name in for it. I'm also considering applying for what's called an "Education Pioneer" fellowship which would mean a year or two of working with a school district or charter network as a data analyst and researcher. But I'm not doing the full-scale, send-my-resume-out-to-any-job-that's-remotely-related-to-my-interests search that a lot of graduating students do.

If next fall rolls around and I haven't found anything, I can stretch out my dissertation a bit. Do more complicated, in-depth data analyses. Present at more conferences. Add an element to my study. And I can look for jobs again, this time being less picky.

I'm not entirely comfortable with this plan. The no-nonsense part of me says, "You've been in graduate school for over FOUR YEARS already. Finish this up, get out, and get a real job." Six years seems like an indulgent amount of time to spend getting a PhD. But the fact is, Kevin and I aren't open to me doing a national job search. So since I'm not 100% flexible on geography, I'm trying to be flexible in any other way I can. And giving myself a potential second year to wait for the perfect job to be posted and for me to be in a better position to get it is one big-time way to be flexible.

5 Year College Reunion - Brady

Kevin and I went to our 5 year college reunion last weekend. I had a lot of fun - it was so weird and good to see all the people I graduated with again. I also had a great conversation with my favorite professor, Andrea Sununu. She basically urged me to not worry about finding a job after graduate school since the decision to go has already been made, and encouraged me to just focus on doing well when I'm there. She also made it sound like she thought jobs would be out there when I (eventually) graduate. Also, just being at DePauw made me really excited for school and to be a professor. I remembered how much I like reading, writing, and doing research and how at home I feel on a college campus (aren't they the best places in the world?).

By the time I go to my 10 year reunion, I should be done or almost done with my PhD! Whoa.

In other news, Kelly should have landed in Chicago by now. She left Charlotte this morning. Hopefully she'll give us an update of her move when she gets a minute.

Here are some pictures from the reunion weekend with one of my college graduation.

The board where they post names so you know which of your classmates have arrived. We were the first ones there. Geeks. Also, aren't small colleges adorable?

One of the dorms I lived in.

The first dorm I lived in.

East college. I took a bunch of classes, went to tons of talks, and defended my senior thesis here. Kevin and I had to leave early to get to a wedding. That's why we're all dolled up at 9 a.m.

The room I lived in senior year at my sorority.

Marvin's. Classic DePauw food. No visit back is complete without it, although I think I still might be recovering from eating so much of it.

Well thank you very much, friendly lamppost sign. I'm happy to be here.

The dorm room we got to stay in. Hey - does anyone remember how GROSS dorm bathrooms are? I do.

The "Greek Pride" and "Met and Married" ribbons we got to wear.

From our graduation with Dr. Andrea Sununu. We met in her class and have stayed in close contact with her since we left.

It's coming... -Amy

I have had a realization recently at how quickly things are actually changing for me. Ok, maybe a few realizations- three to be exact.
Number one: This coming weekend is my "official" gradution weekend. I will be done with college, and my degree will be in the mail. See you later, IU. That was realization number one.
Number two: Roger, my boyfriend, moved to Chicago yesterday. I knew this was going to happen, but for some reason, I thought it would never happen. He is staying with a friend until he gets his apartment finalized, but none the less, he will NOT be living in La Porte anymore. This is so great for him, and I am very excited. However, I realize now that my time to move is quickly approaching as well.
Number three: They are posting job openings for next year now. I was in the stage of "they won't have anything posted for awhile" for so long that I NEVER thought I would get to the stage where my applications should start being answered. Uh-oh. Let's just hope some of them are.

I am so excited and happy for everything that is going on, but it's very strange that in less than a month I could possible be signing a lease in Chicago with my lovely sisters. I could be starting to set up a classroom in 2 or 3 months. A classroom that will someday be filled with children that I am responsible for teaching.

Yikes.

It's good.

But yikes.

:)