Hope for Payback

I applied for a job with my alma mater today. I’ve actually spent the last few years occasionally looking at their employment section, hoping that there would be something I was qualified for in the administrative offices. And today there was. I got really excited and pulled together my application really quickly, sent out emails to all of my on-campus contacts asking for them to whisper in any ears or pull any strings they may have available to them and sent out a direct request to the universe to please, please, please just let me get this one.

College was an incredibly cathartic time for me. I arrived on campus wondering what I was doing there; being a high school dropout, covered in ink and metal and hugely liberal didn’t quite make me the poster child for this prestigious mid-western college. But when I graduated I had the utmost confidence not only in my intelligence, but also in my being and purpose. I was surrounded by a huge group of people who loved and supported me for who I was and I them. Those four years saw me come into who I am with power, humility and confidence.

So I’ve been looking for a way for years to pay that back somehow. We’ve never had enough money to really be able to make any kind of sizable donations, so I knew it wouldn’t be as some financial contributor. I’ve been hoping I could go work on campus and be a part of the institution that has come to mean so very much to me. This could be the chance.

The fact that we still have some of our closest friends living in the area is a huge bonus. They’ve all started having babies of their own, so it would be like moving back to an immense extended family. And the standard of living is SO much cheaper than it is here, so that would help our financial situation as well.

The only con I can find is being that much further away from my parents. That will be really hard. But the potential for all the pros may just even that out a bit. Maybe.