Life changes. I've been around long enough to realize this. Sometimes those changes are frightening, and one such change is coming up for me.
I just learned I won't be getting any classes for the fall at the college. I am not sure, to tell the truth, that I will get anymore classes there at all. Of course, I have no particular reason to think this. Just paranoia, I guess. But with the budget at the community colleges the way it is, it would not be surprising if the large number of part-time instructors will have to be cut down drastically, and most likely, the colleges will get rid of the most senior and thus most expensive instructors (like me) first.
So I began to think about what I will do. On one hand, I really need a break. I'll be teaching lots of hours all summer long. This would be an excellent opportunity to write and to travel, though I can't spend too much since I don't know when or if I'll get a steady job again. But I put in applications at UCI and Chapman, as well as suggesting at CSU that I be considered to teach lower division humanities courses as well as upper-division comp.
I hope that some of this pays off. People seem responsive thus far, but there are no jobs for the fall, or even for the spring in most places.
I hope that I can get a reading at Chapman since the head of the MFA program there contacted me, having been forwarded a copy of my vita by the head of the comp program to whom I sent it.
I suppose I've learned enough by this time to know that from day to day, nearly anything can happen. I just need to keep an eye out for opportunities, and not let fear paralyze me.
2 comments:
You are doing the right things--sendung out applications and planning some much-needed rest and travel! Good for you, Robbi! I'm sure something good will come out of all of this!
I agree with Robin. And I hope it all leads to good things...
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