The Waiting Room

A former colleague contacted me about a job at a university in the same city as Tech College. It's another administrative position that requires my skill set.I found another administrative position. This one is through an international business school that has partnered with PhD U. I have the skill set for that position, minus the ability to speak French.

During my periods of unemployment or underemployment, I have pounced on any opportunity that meets my skill set. I chalk it up to my anxiousness to get back into the game. I often worry about letting an opportunity pass me by. I worry that if I don't jump something, it will be a long time before another opportunity comes knocking. So, I apply, get all excited and dive into the unknown. Sometimes, it has worked well, like my first job in Elsewhere, minus the insanity during the last year that I worked there. But, there have been times where it may not have been the best move for me, like my job at Tech College.

Right now is one of those times. I am underemployed, teaching one online class at HBCU. I do not foresee any opportunities to move up at HBCU.  Even if there was something, I am skeptical of the process after what happened, or should I say didn't happen, when I submitted an internal application for a faculty position. Part of me wants to get back in the game, full time. But then. there is this part of me that is still taking baby steps in getting back to a place where I can be full time.

Also, there is the PhD thing. I am making baby steps toward earning it. I need to fully matriculate which means taking the GRE. (The short version of this is that I get that my GRE scores from my master's degree are way old. But, even though I have a master's and a professional doctorate, PhD U seems to think that I still need to prove to them that I can do graduate work...go figure.) Also, I should do some scholarly writing to earn some credibility. I can't do all of that while working full time.

I think it's just my inability to be still for very long. I get bored very quickly if I am doing the same thing for a long period of time. I usually last about three years in any job, except for when I ran my own law practice. That  lasted six years. I blame some of it on opportunities in which there was little to no chance of growth or growth that was promised but never came. The rest of it is all me, the classic type A.

I am trying to change that about myself. Learn to be OK with being still for a while. Finding opportunities for growth within the confines of my circumstance. I don't have to jump at every opportunity that knocks on my door.

So for these two opportunities that have knocked on my door, I will not answer the door