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May 27, 2008
A people pleaser no more?
On Memorial Day I was stopped at a seatbelt check on the way from my parents' house back to my apartment. I made the police officer very happy--I was the first person he had stopped with a dog in the car who had the dog buckled in too.
My summer course is going really well. As part of teaching writing, we're doing some writing ourselves (practicing peer response techniques and such all the while). We will turn in two pieces of polished writings at the end of our course (Thursday), and we agreed to create a collection of our work for the class to keep. The collection needed an editor. Yours truly. Apparently I have "editor" written all over me.
Today I made one of the most difficult decisions I've made in my 22 years: I will be taking a full-time position as a technical writer and dropping to part-time graduate work.* Over the week and a half that I deliberated over said job offer, I interviewed many (read: at least a dozen) people whose opinions I respect, whose judgment I trust, and/or whose insight I value. Keeping my own perspective amid the flood of input--albeit requested input--was not easy.
As a people pleaser I'm far too used to giving in instead of compromising. It was marvelous when they had questions, suggestions, options, and perspectives I hadn't considered. And, yes, Miss Organized charted where everyone stood on the issue. Color-coded, of course, according to the rank these influences hold in my mind. This helped me sort things out... I think it might be the most methodical way to go about deciding to take a job or not, but I let my own needs shine through and, boy, did it feel good.
I'm still up to my eyeballs in reading for the summer courses I'm taking, but having made a decision makes it easier to do the work. I'm not distracted trying to think about how my decision might negatively impact someone else (when, uh, it's my decision and impacts me most of all). I'm 99.99% sure I made the decision that is best for me. (There is always human doubt.) Does this mean I don't care if I made (or ever make) anyone else happy? Nah. I'm just glad I picked myself as the #1 beneficiary in this situation.
*Note: I do not know when I will be starting yet. There is paperwork to hurdle between me and my new employment.
Posted by KarissaKilgore at May 27, 2008 9:51 PM
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Comments
A color-coded chart? That's so *Karissa*!
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at May 27, 2008 10:44 PM
LOL... Thank you, Dr. Jerz. It helped, really...
Posted by: Karissa at May 27, 2008 10:50 PM
I wonder, who got the honor of being green on that chart?
Posted by: Amanda at May 28, 2008 2:57 PM
hey Karissa,
did Trixie feel uncomfortable when you buckled her in or was her cage the buckled one (acting like a child's seat?)?
that exercise you did about writing in order to teach writing is a similar exercise that I did last semester when I took practicum in teaching writing (all the GI-"joes" had to take it especially if it's their first semester teaching)... we had to pick three out of the seven writing assignments which are required assignments for english 1010 students... after the exercise, it definitely made it easier for me to explain to my students, but at the same time it was a bit tricky because i didn't want them to regurgitate my steps, I wanted them to make it their own and use their own style and voice)...
since you're going part time, how many classes are you taking (6 credits?) if 6 credits is part time, then I guess I'm part time too... but it seems as if you're almost half way done (by the end of the summer semester wouldn't you have 18 credits?)... good luck, you made a good decision... is the technical writing job in your school's writing center or is this totally different? being an editor and doing technical writing will improve your own writing because it makes you more aware ( I found this out after my students papers- I was exposed to some basic technical writing...)...
goodluck (I just read your comment about sugar packets- next time I'll remember...)
Posted by: mike d. at May 29, 2008 2:24 AM
Haha, Amanda. :) Green was used for my friends category; so, yes, your name was in green. Woo!
Wow, thanks for your comment, Mike! Let me give you some answers: Trixie loves being buckled up. I used to keep her in a travel cage but she would get sick every time. Now she goes on the passenger seat on a seat cover so she can lay down or sit up if she wants. It's her favorite way to travel.
A big component of the teaching writing course has been experimenting with what we do as writers and teachers and how we can translate those things to students. I get what you mean about the regurgitation factor. We're learning to combat that as well. It's been a fun class, but lightning fast... today is our last class meeting.
I'll most likely take just one course in the fall as a part-time student (3 credits). If I can handle that, perhaps next spring I'll try taking two courses. And the technical writing job is definitely not related to the University. I have to move (again). I'm looking forward to a new challenge. It's going to mean a lot of changes for me. And you're correct: after this summer I will be exactly half way through my program. Got all A's my first semester (woohoo!).
Posted by: Karissa at May 29, 2008 8:21 AM