The Interview

Success!

I'll first give you all an account of the events, and then move on to my impressions: Dr. Williams picked me up at the train station, and we drove twenty minutes to get to campus. We had lunch (on the English department) at a little Italian place and started talking about the position and what would be expected of me. The talk continued as we explored the campus and walked up to the English department to grab the standard books used in freshman composition. Then we picked up one of the gals from human resources and looked at some apartments about a quarter-mile from campus, which are owned by the university. Dr. Williams had some things to do at home before dinner, so she dropped me off at the guest room in one of the dorms to hang out for an hour or so. Later, Dr. Williams and her husband picked me up and we all went to TGI Friday's, sharing a table with another couple from the English department. The next morning, the school chaplain picked me up and drove me to the train station so I could get home before noon.

Impressions: First, I was so impressed with the English department. All of the faculty members are very professional, organized, and technologically savvy. The current layout and materials used in the freshman comp classes are the result of years of fine tuning by everyone in the department. I liked what I saw. Their philosophy and approach to teaching composition matches very closely to mine; they expect quite a bit from their students. The structure of the classes is very interesting: freshman year, all the students take pretty much the same composition class, focusing mostly on style and grammar. Sophomore year, the students take either an APA or MLA-format research writing class, where they focus on the writing style and research methods that fit with their particular field of study. Both the students and the teachers have really liked this method.

The campus is really lovely, if a little plain. Don't laugh, but I'm thrilled that they have a football team. I've missed going to football games ever since I graduated from high school. There aren't many sports that I enjoy watching, but football is one of them.

The apartments owned by the school are very nice. They were built in the early 70s, but they've been well taken care of, and I would be paying pretty much the same for rent if I moved into one of the rooms. They're tenanted by a variety of people: grad students, university employees, and a herd of little old ladies who have lived there ever since the apartments were built. The only drawback is that all the apartments are two and three-bedroom layouts; even with all my furniture and belongings, the place would seem rather bare. But they are nice apartments, so I might end up moving there anyway.

It was a little odd talking to the professors. I still feel like a student, and I had to remind myself several times that these people considered me as a future colleague, and that I should think of them as such. This whole maturity thing still escapes me a little.

But, the long and short of it is... they want me for the position. They have given me a couple weeks to consider, but I really think that this would be a great opportunity for me. I would gain some experience, and use this as a chance to see whether I really want to teach for the rest of my life. And I would still be close to my dear Chicago, of whom I have become surprisingly fond over the past eleven months. So, I'll be calling the last few places that I haven't yet heard from this week, and if all goes the way I think it will go, I'll be calling Dr. Williams by Wednesday to tell her I'd love to take the job. Oh, I'm so excited!