Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Crossroads

*Edited to Add: this finally is the 300th post since that one wasn't :)

We were up talking until late last night, my husband and I. As you know, he sent out over 30 applications, got one phone and then campus interview and that's it so far. A handful of schools have sent their rejection letters, but most haven't said a word. It would be easier to know that doors are closed instead of suspecting but having no way to know for sure. It's been a month since the last deadline for sending applications so it's a very uneasy time for him. I'm glad my very brief search is over for good, but it would be good to know what we're doing, where we're going. Once that's settled, I have to send letters and CVs out and seek an adjunct job, anything.

One of the biggest reasons for his/our disappointment in his job search is the success of his lab mate. Coincidentally, he's another Brazilian guy like my husband. He has a total of six job interviews. All of them at R1 universities (large universities with graduate programs whose main focus is research, not teaching, like in the smaller undergraduate-only liberal arts colleges). There are a few differences in his situation, though. First, this friend is not in the same area as my husband's. He's in the applied sciences rather than in "pure sciences," even though he's been doing a postdoc in the second. So maybe things are slightly different in those departments. Second, and most importantly, our friend is in his SECOND postdoc, this time in a "buzz area" and with a well known, established scientist at an Ivy League school. Sure, my husband is working for the same scientist at the same school, but because of the circumstances, he didn't get to work on the area he wanted to and is working in a more obscure subject. This is his first postdoc and has lasted three years.

Besides having been a postdoc for four years, our friend experienced bitter disappointment in his first two job searches. The first yielded two interviews, the second, none. But now he's reaping the benefits of his second postdoc at big shot school. So, he's been telling my husband he should go for a second postdoc to maximize his chances to get an R1 university job. That would mean two more years in "limbo" for our family, but might yield a "better" job for my husband.

What if there's an offer from the "Smallish Undergraduate State University" with strong research emphasis where he interviewed? What about the possibility of the "Small Religious Private University" with little opportunity for research in the West Coast? (I mentioned this second possibility here, I guess some of you may have missed it). Should he still forgo these offers for "real jobs" (although not the desired research focused jobs) in order to try going for another postdoc and pursuing the elusive dream of an R1 position?

We were just reflecting last night that all these discussions may end up being pointless because there could potentially be more interviews in the coming weeks, but we kind of doubt that. I mean, it's getting late in the game, isn't it?

And the bottom line is... We started looking back at our "plans" and realized that one of our problems may have been not having a clear goal to begin with. We were, like we say in Portuguese "shooting in every direction" (atirando pra todo lado) hoping to "catch" something (we have another saying for that, "o que cair na rede é peixe" -- whatever falls/is caught on the net is a fish) and now we're not sure we would want any kind of "fish."

The sad thing is -- isn't it a bit too late to be reaching this conclusion? Shouldn't we have thought of that years ago? Shouldn't we have planned something like -- "What we want is to look for R1 jobs for both of us, and if that fails, we can lower our expectations, we can set a different goal." Would it be wise to start setting such goals NOW? Waiting two more years for something that's far from certain? I am at a point (and have been for a long time) where I don't really care too much about what I end up doing. I feel like I want my husband to have a job he loves and then I'll find something for me there. Anyway, it's very unsettling to look back and feel like maybe we should have done things differently.

Of course there's a long history behind our academic lives that you don't know of. We were supposed to go back to Brazil to teach there, so we never aimed too high. There was no point in being ambitious because we had no choice. Then, we started enjoying been true scholars/ scientists and we even considered not going back on our own. It was then that they decided to stop the sponsorship and "release" us from our obligation to go back. That was around the time my husband had already decided to go for the postdoc, etc. Then, there's the fact that his "boss" got him to work on something he didn't really want to work on, an obscure area which is a hindrance, in spite of the name of the school and of the "boss." One of my problems, which I hope will end up being an advantage one day, is that I'm interested in way too many areas (within literature), so I don't fit in well anywhere. My dissertation work is interdisciplinary and I don't even want to work in one of the main areas my dissertation focuses in.

All right, you must be bored with all this discussion. Thing is, we're at a crossroads right now and we'll have to decide what to do within the next two months. We also worry about our family, about the boys. Where would we like them to grow up? Where would be the optimal place for our family to live? Is there such a place or should we just have a "bloom where we're planted" mindset?

P.S. My husband loves your comments here, Articulate Dad (he says that they're always so pertinent, so thoughtful), therefore I've been telling him that he should go read certain posts in your blog, which may help him, or at least have him feel that he's not alone in this struggle. I kept talking about you in our conversation yesterday.

7 comments:

Aliki2006 said...

I feel for you and all this "at a crossroads" thinking. You shouldn't feel guilty about arriving at certain realizations now. My office-mate's husband only last year realized he didn't like the field he was in (Environmental Science) and now he's in medical school and they might face relocation after he graduates. Sometimes as we change and develop and reach other milestones (having kids, etc.) our visions shift too. I never imagined myself living here, yet here we are! In a way we're "blooming as we were planted" and I often imagine a *better* place. If I had a choice I would up and move to Canada in a minute, but sometimes you have to make the most of where you are. Luckily we have good schools here and a fairly decent cost-of-living, low crime, etc. there are some places where I would NOT move too, and this isn't one of them, but it's also not my ideal place to be.

Sorry to write so long a comment! I've been thinking about this myself lately.

Alice said...

(((hugs)))to you. What difficult times these are for you guys. I think it's never too late to realize or discover something about what one wants/expected. It's OK to change your minds and plans. Don't be ashamed of that.

As for where's the optimal place for our family to live? We discovered that through trial and error, never through logical analysis or pre-planning. We tried the US, and it wasn't it. We tried Ecuador and it wasn't it, either ... so we ended up in Austria, and so far we're very happy here.

I think in some things you have to flow along and trust in what life brings. I know you are about to throw a shoe at me now (at the screen) ;) but I do believe that when it comes to big decisions like this you have to have faith that, ultimately, whatever happens, whatever decision you make in the end, it will be the right one!!!!

Keiko said...

Ah Lilian...Hoje eu tava aqui quase congelando indo do hospital onde estou fazendo minha pesquisa pra faculdade e pensando: Meu Pai, o que eu tô fazendo aqui? A
cho que a vida é sempre um dilema, mas sério mesmo, acho que o melhor é mesmo pensar que as decisões que a gente toma são sempre as melhores, ao menos para aquele momento. As coisas mudam e não adianta pensar atrás.
O negócio é olhar pra cima e esperar que Ele mostre mesmo qual é o lado certo da encruzilhada...mesmo que isso exija paciência...muita paciência.

Mas olha...a idéia da Aliki não é ruim não, venha aqui pra cima e junte-se a nós! Ningué sabe bem o que vai ser da vida...mas pelo menos a gente come strogonoff e pudim no sábado ;-)

beijinho,
Keiko

Lilian said...

Thanks Aliki, Alice, and Keiko.

Alice, there'll be no shoe throwing whatsoever -- I fully agree that
"when it comes to big decisions like this you have to have faith that, ultimately, whatever happens, whatever decision you make in the end, it will be the right one!!!!"

Breena Ronan said...

I'm not sure what you could have done differently, even if you had know exactly what you wanted to do. Most new faculty that I have met a our R1 university have done at least a couple of years either adjuncting or in a post doc.

ArticulateDad said...

Listen, my friend.

...isn't it a bit too late to be reaching this conclusion? Shouldn't we have thought of that years ago?

Pish and nonsense! You are where you are. The past is the past, over and done. Cry a little if it makes you feel better. Often works for me. Then pick yourself up, and look to the horizon, any horizon. That's where you're headed. And it's a beautiful sunrise or sunset, the clouds perambulate the sky just so, and only you can see it. That's your vision.

Remember the motto: everyone who got where they are started where they were. Better yet, forget it, they don't matter. It's your lives. You're living them just fine. All we can do is make decisions for tomorrow, not yesterday.

It's hard, real hard to let go of regrets, self-doubt, recriminations. I know. I do it too. But in the end, there's nothing can be done about yesterday, even if it teaches us something. Where are you heading? That, only you can decide.

Corey said...

I'm totally in agreement with articulatedad! Yes, we all need to give each other the strength and permission to focus on what we really want in life!

My husband and I went through similar situations as yours and in the end thanked our lucky stars that things ended up where they did. Yes, this is easy to say now that we have the hindsight to know this. We simply kept the faith through the years that something was there for us and that we had to stay true to ourselves and who we are. Something I have seen happen over and over again: the people with whom you work and the kind of job you have can and will influence and change you (for better for for worse). This is simply the nature of it all. It is essential that we try and stick with employment and coworkers that fit with who we are so that we don't end up wondering what happened to our true selves.

Where are things now with my husband and I after having gone through our process of finding our jobs? My PhD husband teaches Physics part-time at a local community college and LOVES it. He has time to work on the house, to homeschool the kids, to live life. This was a choice he made. He made a choice to not stay at a big university and we decided that we wanted to stay in Seattle. Since we couldn't live off his salary as a part-time, I still work but only part-time as well and it works out wonderfully. However, it only happened this way because of the steps we decided to take along the way, and most importantly: because we didn't listen to all of the nay-sayers and those who try to make us feel insecure for not having full-time, big university, top, successful jobs. Argh, why must people do that?

I can't wait to hear what comes of the applications - who knows what will come up! And most of all, follow your heart. This sounds like a tough time since it is that "waiting game" time. Arghh, so frustrating. I have no patience for that (you should know after witnessing my impatience with MLM and BBFN which you and everyone helped me through!)

Big hugs to all of you and thank you so much for keeping us updated!