2001-06-21
Rainy day, posted at 5:00 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Rainy day 2001-06-21 - 5:00 p.m. I'm feeling slightly less morose than I was yesterday, even though the weather (63 degrees and rainy all day) is doing its best to dampen my mood. Rez life asked me to interview a candidate tomorrow. They called me early this morning - actually, it was 9:45am, but I was asleep - and I blankly agreed despite not really wanting to. I was too out of it to think of a good excuse as to why I couldn't do it. I'm not getting paid to do it. I feel like the department owes me more than I owe them. I'm thankful for what my involvement in residence life has done for me. As I've stated before, I often wonder, in that Gwyneth Paltrow/"Sliding Doors" type of way, how my life would be different if I had never gotten an RA position back in March of 1997. My first two years in the department were wonderful, teaching me a lot and making me develop myself past my comfort zones. The majority of the best friends I made from college are derived from my RA days. But the last two years have been not nearly as rewarding. As I've been promoted through the department, I'm much more cognizant of its inner workings and politics. I respected Ann so much, and after her death there was a void for me in the central offices. This void was deepened after Cindy left this horrible and unfair message on my voice mail in December and then refused to return my calls to discuss it, which totally crushed my perception of a woman I had respected a lot. The message caused a cloud to hang above my last semester in rez life, and I still can barely muster up the charm to say hi to her. Angela has always treated me fairly well, and so has Kate. But I felt neglected and unappreciated by the department towards the end of my rez life career. It's not even something specific, and perhaps it's partly my own fault for losing touch somewhat. After Simon left, I lost my most immediate and visceral connection with the department. But I don't feel like I owe them anything anymore. On the other hand, I like Niki, who I'm interviewing with. I still like meeting new people, so the interview shouldn't be too bad. I'm a good salesman for the department, even though I no longer can stand behind it with as much force as I used to be able to. I've complained a lot on here about my supervisor for camps. I'd like to tell you about another one of my supervisors. This one is more of a peer. We'll call him Koby, because he bears more than a passing resemblence to Koby Bryant (something the kids at camp are quick to point out). Koby is amazing. We worked the same job as I during the school year, which could have made it awkward that he's now my supervisor. But I have so much respect for him, it doesn't even matter. The guy has his Master's in Curriculum and Teaching, and his focus is elementary ed. He's been an intern at the White House. He taught for a year in D.C. with the Teach American program. He has a job in Fairfax County for next year, right outside of D.C. He's going to Cambridge the year after next to get his PHD. He's wonderful with kids. Kobi is cool. So I do work with some good people. Speaking of Simon, I had a dream about him the other night. Simon is my old supervisor who became a good friend in the three years we worked together. Gale and I visited him in Boston for New Year's. We've been working on a "thank you" photo book entitled "The Allegedly True Adventures of Mark, Gale, and Simon" for him since then, but it's now late June and we have yet to mail it. It's not quite done. I dreamt that Simon was hanging out in the Akers lounge and I saw him and he pretended like he didn't know me. Then he asked me if I had lost his address. Oops! Gotta get that thing in the mail!