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Leaving a Job — Unschooling After Academia
This marks the first September in many years — too many years — that I will not be making my way to the University of British Columbia campus, and walking into my office in the creative writing school.
Academic life
Has become a life of tedium. My passion for teaching and working with students has been shoved aside by unnecessary paperwork (oh the re-writing of syllabi), and ever deepening levels of paranoia (leave doors open to talk with students; bring in a third party; constant mini-courses to read and be tested on…resulting in a grade-school-mentality level “certificate” from those bored people in the HR or bias/equity department… or somewhere in the bowels of the place… people who really should get up and dance more often!)
After years of feeling increasingly unwell over my job, I’ve left.
An imaginary friend
I have traded those woes and anxieties for a little something-or-other that follows me around now; I see it as a wee frowning Schnauzer with a limp… the frown one of pondering ‘from-whence-cometh-dollars.’
But I’ll take Schnauzer any day, over what I had before. I’m old enough to know that money issues are not as destructive as others. Besides, Schnauzer is worrying about it, and saving me having to do the worry…