Everyone has signed off on the thesis and all that remains is for me to print and deliver it to the grad school tomorrow. YES! Note: I caused a bit of discussion in the Grad School. Apparently, I was the first person to request a Creative Commons License rather than a Copyright on my thesis. The good news is that they’re going to let me do it. What they told me is: “it probably won’t hold up in a court of law, but it doesn’t conflict with any of our standard practices, and the language you suggested is okay so you can go ahead and include it.” So, it’s not an enthusiastic endorsement, but at least the necessary go-ahead. One step forward… :)

I taught my last class at Mizzou today. Well, maybe. I’ve applied for a job on campus and had the first interview yesterday. We’ll see if I make it to the second round. If nothing else, the interview will be good practice for future interviews.

So, yes, now that the thesis is done, I need to find a job. Some of you know already, but this is the first time I’ve announced on the blog that I didn’t apply to PhD programs for the Fall (I just HAVE to replenish the bank account first) and so now the job search begins.

Ideally, the new job will be a temporary position that I can keep for at least a year before I apply to programs, or it will be a permanent position at a place that has a PhD program or near a University with a PhD program. I would enjoy staying in academia to teach or to do some other sort of work. I would also enjoy doing some contract work in industry, perhaps technical writing, content management, project management, or education and training (some things I’ve done before or that I’m qualified for). I’ve also thought about doing some educational consulting, as I’ve really enjoyed doing workshops with teachers. Or, maybe some combination of these! I’m really considering all my options. The lease is up on my apartment on June 14 and I can go anywhere in the country for the right position (currently defined as: a new challenge). I will probably temporarily camp out in Northern Illinois at my parents’ house unless I find something before my lease is up and can move directly. Although, if there is someone who needs house and pet sitting over the summer, that would also be an option.

The options are really mind boggling right now and it’s not like there are 1000s of jobs just waiting for me. I will HAVE to do more thinking and narrow things down some in the next few days so I can be a little more strategic. However, if you have any ideas or know of something I should consider, please email me at marcia DOT hansen AT gmail.com.

I also want to design a new website and get that up to date so I can refer people to that new site. I’m not sure how much time I have before the site on Mizzou’s webspace will come crashing down and take my current vita with it.

Which reminds me — I need to redirect email from my mizzou account to my gmail account. And, clean that account out. Ugh!

Ok, that’s enough news/to do list for now. I’m grabing a beverage and watching Grey’s Anatomy.