Yes, I Guarantee, Things are Sweeter in Tennessee

In February 2010, I stumbled across, quite by serendipity, a position at Tennessee Wesleyan College. It was the perfect position for me, and it was conveniently located in the place I wanted to live. For those of you who don't know much at Student Affairs/Higher Education, you typically find your niche within the field. Usually there is one office at each institution for that area. Within that office can be 1-8 people. The odds of finding your dream job in your dream location at the exact time you want the job are pretty slim. People also tend to stay in their jobs for multiple years, so it really is a special moment when the stars align and God blesses you with your exact perfect prayer. In my case, it was a brand new office and position, so that was extra exciting and extra scary!

 

So, I submitted my application on a Wednesday night. They called on Thursday. Apparently they were in the middle of the first-round interviews, and I got very lucky with the timing of my application. I was offered an on-campus interview, and my mentor, RevDocJLa, assured me that the worst that could happen is they paid for me to come home and see P for a weekend. SCORE! As it turns out, they liked me. Almost a month after interviewing (I was the first of five candidates - long wait!), they called on Thursday, March 18 to offer me my dream position, in my dream location, in my dream time slot. I called P and my parents after getting the great news. My dad congratulated me then said, "So, when are you getting married?" As a 25 year old woman living in the South who had yet to marry, I was REALLY used to getting that question. My response was, "I don't know. When P asks, I guess."

 

After celebrating outside the dining hall with FutureDrKG (the only person there who knew I'd been job searching), I was on cloud nine. I was also a little sad. You see, I was in the middle of a week long leadership conference with over 50 amazing and wonderful students from Georgia Southern. I was there with students who I'd really bonded with during my 19 months at GSU. I couldn't tell them yet since there were other "higher-ups" who needed to know the news first. So I just smiled. FutureDrKG also smiled and off I went just being super excited that I was moving home.

 

You see, what I didn't know was that FutureDrKG had other secrets hidden behind his big smile.