Tuesday, September 8, 2009

My tenure application is in!








I ran 3 miles tonight (704 miles). It was a nice night for a run and my leg felt pretty good. Because it was a short run I ran a few sprints which felt great. I assume that my run was also made better by the fact that I didn't have a 5o pound tenure application weighing down on my shoulders. Yes, it is true! My tenure package is done. Done despite my office being under construction, done despite juggling a million other commitments and done despite staff turn over  that left me with new people to assist me in putting the application together. I'm back in my office, I continue to keep all the balls up in the air and I am very happy with the new people who are working for me. They did an amazing job today and I don't know how I would have finished putting together the package without them. The picture above is of Ellen Whiteman, my new research coordinator and myself.  Ellen was kind enough to photocopy the entire package once it was together, we think around 1500 pages.
I arrived home from work feeling completely exhausted and a bit deflated. Unlike pushing to complete a grant application or scrambling to send an article off for publication, submitting my tenure application didn't feel like an accomplishment but more like a plea for recognition and support. It felt degrading having to convince my peers that I'm worthy of tenure and promotion after all the work that I've done. Shouldn't my cv be enough? Thought provoking question huh?
I had the pleasure of receiving a call from Sandra Hyde, a friend and colleague at McGill University. In the early 90s Sandra and I were both at UC Berkeley in the Anthropology Graduate Program. I moved back to McGill to finish my doctorate and Sandra finished her PhD at UC Berkeley  and then moved to Harvard University to do a Post Doc. A few years ago Sandra was hired at McGill University in the Department of Anthropology. We keep in touch sporadically and the timing of her call tonight was perfect. We had a great chat, catching up on each other's life, discussing friends we have in common, and talking about our work. It was the first time in days that I found myself relaxed and not worrying about work. Thanks Sandra, it was just what the Doctor needed!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Caroline,

    Good luck in completing your challenge of 1000 miles. I'm planning on trying to do the same in 2010, and it's blogs like yours that inspired me to create a blog for myself.

    I'll be following your progress from now on!

    Thanks and good luck with the last 300 miles.

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  2. Thanks Matthew! Good luck with your 2010 challenge. It is a great way to train and I love when I have a chance to run in different cities as well as along our beautiful river in Saskatoon.

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