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Lyn C. Howell
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« on: March 20, 2002, 08:40:59 AM » |
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One hears so many horror stories of people trying for years to get tenure-track positions that I am almost embarrassed to write. My story is more like a fairy tale.
My job search was all that the articles tell you not to do. When I began sending out applications last November, I was 50, with my dissertation only partially complete, and I was applying in a relatively crowded field to only those schools in a limited geographic region. In spite of all the odds against it, I have just finished my first semester as a tenure-track assistant professor.
In the spring I had two telephone interviews and two requests for on-campus interviews. Before the second visit could occur, however, I had accepted an offer from the first college because it was exactly what I wanted.
Everything one reads about landing an academic job suggests that one should anticipate spending a few years teaching introductory courses to huge freshman classes. Instead, I have one undergraduate class, 300 level; my other classes are all at the graduate level.
My choice might not be right for everyone, but it's perfect for my family and me. I am in a well-ranked, private, liberal-arts college that encourages and supports research, but also values teaching. The campus is beautiful and the people are friendly. Like the theme song from the television show, "Cheers," everybody knows my name, from the president and the academic dean to the manager of the bookstore.
Every time I walk across campus I have to remind myself that this is real, that I'm living my dream.
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