I was in Pittsburgh this last weekend for a wedding. I had somehow forgotten what Pennsylvania looked like in the fall. I remember in college it was one of my favorite times of the year, especially the long weekend we had in October. It was usually over my birthday weekend, and right at the time that the leaves were hitting their peak colors. These pictures really do no justice to the vibrant, beautiful colors that looked like they were painted on the hillsides.
Yesterday, I drove 465 miles roundtrip for what turned out to be a preliminary interview that lasted roughly 25 minutes. *sigh* I'm glad it was in person because I come across as 'tard in phone interviews, but still.
As far as I can tell, it went well. At least I hope it went well, I can never tell with these things. They did interviews last week and are doing some this week, then they plan to narrow the field down to 3 candidates who will do another round of interviews. Possibly by the end of the week, but probably next week I was told that I will hear from them either way.
Please keep your fingers and toes crossed. I really want this one. In fact, after she told me more about the position, and what I would be doing, I wanted it even more then I did from just reading the general job description. I hope I was able to convey that to her.
According to professor I used as a reference, the lady who interviewed me said I was "eminently qualified. So you got that going for you." I don't know if that was before or after she interviewed me though. She could have though I was a complete moron after the interview. As I said, I'm horrible at judging these things.
I hate to put to much stock in this, because I don't want to be overly disappointed if I don't get the position, but I really think this could be great opportunity to do something with my life that I might have otherwise allowed to pass me by.
Since returning home after college, I've allowed myself to become stuck in a rut that I'm not happy with. I need a change from my current status quo. I needed a change, perhaps a major change, in my life to get me to realize that I'm worth more then what I'm getting, I'm smarter then my job requires, and my life has stagnated its current state. This is the perfect time in my life to try something different, something exciting, and not a little frightening.
I'll admit, I'm scared shitless to move back to Pittsburgh. I spent 4 of the best and worst years of my life there. I still have friends in the city, but if past experience is anything to go by, I'd rarely, if ever, see them, so I don't consider that something I can rely on. I love the city, and I love the school. I just have to get over my inherent shyness and laziness, and just put myself out there, otherwise I will never get over it.
Anyhow, that went longer then I thought it would, but luckily didn't go into nearly as many issues it could have, so all I'll say again is keep your fingers crossed!
I've emailed Dr. Michelmore a couple times in the last week or so, and this last time asked how Dr. Chaffey and Dr. Aiken were doing. Her response...
Dr Chaffey and I are doing fine. Dr. Chaffey is looking forward to retiring next spring. As with everything he does, he is doing it in an orderly and planned fashion.
Dr. Aiken is not so good. He has a nasty cancer that is slowly killing him. It started out as some form of rare lung cancer and has moved to various other places. He is not teaching but comes in a couple times a week to read and think and have lunch. I don't think he will live much longer, but it is very hard to tell.
He is wondering what impact he made here. So if you feel like writing him and telling him, that would be wonderful. You can just tell him you asked about him, I told you and whatever comes next. When I said he was being very calm about everything, he indicated that philosophers were bad at the small things, but they'd already thought a lot about the big things, like dying.
Sorry to burden you with this information, but thought you might want to write him--and you can tell others if you think they would want to.
I don't know if you guys would want to know any of this, but thought I'd pass it along. How sad, I loved Dr. Aiken, after Michelmore, he was probably my favorite teacher. I'll probably be sending him an email soon.
