The Beeline Broadcast, #12

Life Update: Spring Break

About a month ago my stress level reached its crescendo. My job search was putting stress on my relationship, I was frustrated by the lack of job postings, and I was feeling overwhelmed by the demands of my coursework as well as assistantship/internship demands. I am, after all, working at three different offices at two different institutions. At that point I decided I needed a vacation.

Because I'm a poor graduate student, I couldn't do anything remotely elaborate, like catch a plane to California or take a cruise to Aruba. Instead I decided to take a road trip up to Maine for a long weekend at the end of spring break. The idea was to completely remove myself from the multiple stressors in my life and have a little adventure. For the most part it worked, but the journey up the Mass Pike and onto 495 followed the path of at least six different schools that I submitted applications to.

I saw the mountains and I saw the ocean. I didn't think about job applications or rejection emails once.

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The adventure was great, but now that I’m back I can already feel the stress starting to creep back in. I was hoping to have some sort of job squared away before I graduated, but I'm wondering if that was a realistic goal. I'm trying to grow comfortable with the idea that that may not happen. I have noticed that a slew of job listings have started to post in areas that I'm actually interested in (like academic advising, student support services, admissions and enrollment, etc.). I've received some rejection emails this week, but they were for positions that I knew were a stretch. I'm hoping that this new wave of applications will be a little more fruitful.

I think I need another vacation.