Just one month left....

Thanks for all the feedback and thoughts regarding my last entry. It's always good to hear what people are doing at other institutions and what other people's thoughts are.

I guess what I've started to think about more lately is where do you draw the line between expecting a team to work out things and developing strategies or back-up plans. I guess I usually more toward the we-are-a-team-and-we-will-figure-out-a-solution-together side. I don't like having all these procedures and plans laid out. There's value in working through situations together, in learning what it means to be a team member. But are we sometimes expecting too much from a team, especially a team of undergraduate students who may have a lot of other things on their plate?

It's like manuals and policy books. Do we write down every single thing - address every issue we can possibly think of, just to make sure that we're covering all bases OR do we write something a little more vague that can be interpreted based on the situation and forces students to use their common sense and logically think through the reasoning or "spirit" of the policy?

Like with everything in life, I think the best solution is a happy medium. I hate long-winded handbooks and manuals, but I also realize that students like the comfort of having things laid out in details. If we give them all the answer, they're missing out on a good educational moment. We can never address every situation - life just isn't black and white. But of course there need to be some guidelines and procedures we can look to for guidance.


Okay, new topic:

On the job search front, it's starting to look up a little. I have two phone interviews coming up soon. I'm still waiting to hear from another school, where I think I have a good shot at getting a phone interview. But there's only one month left. It's going to be tight.

I go through phases where I'm okay and then I suddenly am completely freaked out. Job searching is way too emotionally draining for me. Ha.

Work has also had its ups and downs. There are moments when I'm sitting around bored out of my mind; and then suddenly ten things need to be done at once and I'm stressed. My computer has been completely messed up and I wasn't able to use it from 9 am until 4 pm today; but then I got a lot accomplished between 4-6 pm today. It's like a roller coaster - no wonder I'm exhausted by the end of each day.

Well, friends, keep your fingers crossed for me that these last month will turn out alright and that things will start looking up on the job search front soon.