2001-04-02
Scared of the job fair, posted at 11:59 a.m
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com As the day of the job fair (Thursday, April 5), I find myself getting more and more nervous. I am so unsure of what to do, where to go. My self-confidence and assuredness is nil at the moment.My parents asked me if I had narrowed it down to anywhere, and I dodged the question - not wanting to hurt their feelings if I was moving far away.
I'm looking more and more seriously at California, for pay reasons. Anaheim pays 42,000 to start, plus a $4,500 signing bonus. Long Beach is similar - most schools in California start out at over $40K. That would be nice. While the cost of living is more in California, I can't imagine it's that much more. For example, one of the other areas I'm seriously looking at - the SC/NC/VA region - pays much less. Raleigh-Durham, which looks like an awesome place to live, starts out at $27,775. Charlotte, SC, which also looks very cool, starts out at around $28,000. Baltimore starts out at around 32K. Most Florida schools start out at around 30K.
While I didn't get into teaching for the money - obviously - it certainly helps. I can't believe that a $15,000 salary difference between SC and CA is the result of cost-of-living increases. I do have well over $20,000 in student loans, plus incredibly high credit card bills right now. My credit rating is so low that I'm sure I won't be able to own a house for a long time. I'm a spendin' fool.
Chicago pays pretty well - around $35,000 - and that's a possibility. I took an impromptu trip to Chicago on the way home from East Lansing to visit an old friend. I ended up getting really lost, and feeling so alone it was ridiculous. I didn't even have anyone I felt I could ask directions. I just drove around for what felt like hours until I found a highway, which I figured would lead me to another highway, which eventually did get me back to Michigan. But the feeling was something that I hated feeling - and I worry that's what next year will be like.
In res life, we call this the transition time. Students moving from high school to college see this occurring within them. I see myself right before that point, at a kind of crossroads where my fate is yet to be decided.
It's damn scary.