October 12: Daughter's Chorus Concert, Clint Margrave, "Recap of Yesterday's Tenure-Track Job Interview in English"

I am missing my daughter's chorus concert this evening because I have to teach.  If I had tenure (translation:  job security/wasn't a contingent professor), I would be tempted to cancel tonight's class.  That is not an option.  So, instead, I am going to stop at Walmart on my way home and buy her some flowers.

That's one of the most difficult things about being a contingent professor--the constant worry about job performance and evaluation.  If I really mess up one semester, I will not get a contract for the next semester.  Period.  So I don't cancel class.  Ever.  Even on those Upper Peninsula days when the wind is howling at 50 miles per hour and the snow is coming down thick and sideways, I still show up, ready to teach.  Because that's what contingents do.

I'm not complaining.  I have chosen this life, this position.  I love what I do.  However, sometimes, I dream of something a little better.  That's what tonight's poem from Rattle is all about:  dreaming of something better.

Now, if you will excuse Saint Marty, he has to start writing his Nobel Prize lecture.

Recap of Yesterday's Tenure-Track
Job Interview in English

by:  Clint Margrave

They asked me for an adjective
to describe myself as a teacher
and I gave them a noun.

They asked me to roleplay
a situation in which I told a student
she would need to retake the class
and I ended up giving
her a second chance.

Then I asked if the water bottle
provided for me
had vodka in it.

Then I referred to the hiring committee
which consisted entirely of women
as "you guys."