The newest development in the Linnea 1-Year Plan is teaching for a year. William says that if I do teach I will just be proving that there's nothing else you can do with an English major, but I really want the thrill of standing in front of a class and telling people stuff. And my ultimate goal is to be a college or graduate professor, surely teaching for a year will help me to decide whether this is what I want to do. For the past few months at my library job I felt frustrated because I didn't feel like I was being paid to think and I didn't feel like I was really helping anyone through what I was doing. So will the move from public library to public school make me more fulfilled as a helpful human being?
The teaching options right now are a Christian school in Omaha that is looking for an English/Drama teacher for high school and middle school and the possibility of teaching in the Hamilton County Public Schools of Tennessee. I'm leaning toward Hamilton Co right now just because I'd really like to live in Chattanooga. I already have a house and roommates there and friends and a brother and Lupi's. The Christian school in Omaha would probably be the better job, but I don't have friends here, and I've learned that I don't make friends very easily without other friends (i.e. Hope) to make them for me. The third possible "Plan" is to go to Boston and temp. I'd like to go back there, I'd like to get to know everything better. I miss Davis Square and Brookline and the Paradise Rock Club and all the little shops that aren't chains. But I don't know if Boston Public is for me, I mean, they did make a show about it. I tend to avoid jobs they make shows about. No, NYPD. No, Rescue 911. No, Beverly Hillbillies.
The thing is, I do really want to teach, even though it seems like a fall-back job. It would be so much better than working in a coffee shop or similar non-thinking employment. I am enthusiastic about this, but also scared. Mostly scared of hating myself all year for the decision I've made. Boston turned out really well. I don't want to screw this one up.
Posted by linnea at June 5, 2006 3:50 PMWilliam is wrong. You can get married with an English major, too...
Ah, but teaching is a profession not to be disparaged. You have control of countless young minds.
If I ever have kids and you are still teaching then, I'll entrust their malleable minds to your care. Heck, I'll just sit in on your classes myself.
:)
Posted by: funke at June 5, 2006 4:26 PMWhile I selfishly want you to come to Boston and temp, it sounds like Chatanooga might be a winner. Anyway, if it's a pre-grad school plan, you should maybe think about making an attempt to get published (maybe with the help of a cov college professor) somewhere in the next year as well (just to keep you busy eh?)
Posted by: jb at June 5, 2006 10:47 PMHamilton County, hmmm...better you than me.
Posted by: lauraelk at June 6, 2006 2:28 PMdearest, Beverly hillbilles did not work. The show had nothing to do with working except shooting at some food when out of the ground came a bubbling crude. See you can still be wealthy it is not a job but a state.
Posted by: hope at June 6, 2006 6:38 PMThere's also teaching in "challenging" environments to get forgiveness on student loans. Two birds with one stone?
jb is on to something with publishing. But that's pretty daunting. I'm not sure if I'm even ready. Something more attainable is finding small conferences at which to present. Better look now as deadlines for abstracts are approaching. And definitely get feedback from a former professor on abstracts/polished paper. You're their responsibility until you get into grad school. (Let me know if I can help, too. I'm not terribly far along the road, but I have given a few papers...)
Posted by: Jeannette at June 6, 2006 8:31 PML, I should tell you that Hope is wrong. The sophisticated term for Jed Clampett's profession (as we all remember from Mr. Drysdale) is "wildcat oil driller." People have made millions by drilling for oil in unexpected places and finding it. Besides, being fabulously wealthy is a lot of work. Think of all the people trying to steal your moeny or your children! Think of the property management! Think of relocating to Beverly Hills!
So I can see why you group it in the category of "jobs about which people make television shows." I'm with you. Being independently wealthy isn't for me.
Posted by: bob at June 8, 2006 9:41 AMForbes: Roaring gasoline drives oil prices higher
Update: Gun sales up, more people “shootin at some food”
Rockville, MD—Gun dealers report sharp sales increases over the last month and many suggest that the increases are driven by customers who plan to spend most of their time hunting, missing wildlife, and shooting into the dirt. “Its very odd,” said Atlantic guns owner George Schneider, “but we’ve seen lots of men drive up in some pretty expensive cars to look at guns. They all walk in wearing overalls. Big straw hats seem in this spring.” He added that many customers are looking for rabbit guns, a big departure from the target and match shooting crowd that frequents his shop. Asked about the sales, Smith Barney analyst Kenneth Laiting suggested that the purchases may be less related to rabbit hunting and more related to oil. “We have a big tradition in this country of incidental oil discovery,” said Laiting, “and so its not surprising that higher oil prices are going to draw more people into the field.” Laiting added that “this is an interesting time to get into discovery since most of the major oil companies have phased out their rifle divisions in favor of techniques such as seismic analysis.” Lee R. Raymond, president of Exxon Mobil agreed, “It was just a year or two ago that I’d grab a gun and go out in my backyard but I just don’t have time now and our seismic division is really getting us better results.” “Still,” he added, “I’d like to get out at some point this summer with a bottle of scotch and my rabbit gun and unload fifteen, maybe 20 rounds in the ground… who knows, I might get lucky.”
Posted by: jb at June 8, 2006 1:42 PMyou really don't want to move to beverly hills
it's an evil place full of evil people.
How about this for comments? Huh! Hey, you are beloved of me.
Posted by: Natalie at June 10, 2006 3:24 AM