Don’t let the person that didn’t love you keep you from the one that will.

As September ends and October begins, I feel renewed, focused and thankful for the life I have and the people I’ve kept in it.

I will never get paid $100k end-of-year bonuses or be on the faculty at a top-tier private university or be courted for multiple lucrative corporate jobs, and that is Okay. it makes sense that I would feel insecure spending time with (very nice, friendly, interesting) people who DO have those things, because judged by those standards my own life and work might look small and inadequate. but I love what I do. I believe deeply in the mission of public higher education, and I want to spend my life working and teaching in environments where my students come from an incredibly wide range of socioeconomic, linguistic, educational, and cultural backgrounds (a growing number of whom are the first people in their families to go to college!). I have a good job with health insurance that allows me to meet all of my needs, and the fact that money is sometimes tight encourages me to live a lifestyle that isn’t really bound up in materialist values or the need to have the nicest newest things. I really love the incredible flexibility and freedom of my job, the amazing work/life balance I get to enjoy, and the fact that every single day I have the opportunity to make small but meaningful differences in kids’ educational experiences and self-esteem. I get to learn so many new things all the time! I have the time & freedom to explore my creative and intellectual interests during my workday! I get to work every day surrounded by intelligent people, most of whom are passionately committed to their students and live vibrant intellectual lives! I am so happy in my life and I feel sure every day that I am doing meaningful work that is closely aligned with my core values. it’s very silly to look at my life and judge it the way I imagine (probably incorrectly!!) that other people might judge it, when I am the person who has to live in it and the only opinion that really matters is my own.