Applying for jobs… and pulling out my hair!

I spent two hours today filling out an application for a teaching position… What could they possibly have asked that would require that much time on an application, you ask?  Well, it wasn’t so much what they asked for as it was that I simply had all the requested information scattered about my newly reorganized apartment!  DRAT!

I had to go transcript and diploma hunting, as well as address and phone number diving… All because while I remember my GPA, I don’t remember how many units I completed, and while I remember where I worked, I’ve since forgotten all their phone numbers.  (sigh) So what should have taken but a brief chunk of memory recall wound up a desperate search and rescue mission instead.

I suppose the thing to remember though is that now I have all said information in one location – a lot easier to access next time.  But as I’m sitting here printing this sucker out, I’m wondering if the next one won’t be asking all sorts of different questions that send me back to the excavation.

Marking Time

This weekend marks the end of my first post-graduate year, and I have to admit I’m much relieved to see it go.

I knew the transition was going to be tough, but I had no idea just how many challenges were waiting for me once I left my comfy little UCLA nest.  Now, looking back, it seem amazing that it’s only been 12 months!  12 months in which to gain and lose a job, glue my heart back together from its careless handling, master the unemployment line, cater to a production company filming in the dredges of downtown LA, and to get myself to the near finish line of a number of writing fellowships and contests, only to miss by mere inches.  It has been a tough year.

But I think I can honestly say it’s made me stronger.  No longer abiding by the uncertainty and pain that had been haunting me, I’ve been forced to grow some thicker skin and higher walls and to exercise my powers of positive thinking ( not necessarily because I believe it will manifest what I want, but because you’ve got to pull yourself through the crap somehow!  ) And you know what?  I did it.  I made it.  This year kind of sucked, but that’s because it was chock full of growing pains, and I’ve got to say that while I certainly hope I’m done with the suckiness, I am feeling a little taller.

So, as to what this, my sophomore “Grown Up” year, is like?  Who knows.  But I will tell you this, I sure hope it’s enjoyable and includes better groceries.