Keeping the Faith

One of the things I like the most about my new job is that I’m writing and editing at work again. I’m using the skills I’ve spent years acquiring. Plus, I enjoy these kinds of tasks. Proofreading a graduate catalogue may bore some people to tears, but I like it. The writing is fun, too, and there are so many different projects it’s hard to get bored. I’ll proof a graduate catalogue then write photo captions for the web site, then work on a brochure for a new academic program.

Did I mention I’m working for a local university? I don’t think I’ve said anything. I’m doing marketing writing. I’m also making 25 percent more than I made at my last job. Funny, isn’t it? I have a regular schedule, a private working space (no more sitting in a hallway), more money, more benefits (including free tuition), and nice co-workers. I'm now working in a creative environment where people are open minded. I really missed that. I don’t think I realized how miserable I was before. Well, maybe I did. I knew I was miserable. But now that I’m in a better place, all I can say is: thank you, God!

I talked to my friend Cristina last night. She’s finishing up her MFA in writing this summer. A couple of weeks ago she went to Mexico for a family reunion. While she was there, she kept worrying because she doesn’t have a full-time job, and she’d applied to various programs and gotten only rejections. She was worrying. What am I going to do with my life kind of worrying.

She just found out she got accepted into her top-choice program. In less than a month, she’s moving to Spain, somewhere in Andalusia, to be a teacher’s aide.

The moral of the story is: kept the faith. Life usually works out.