Landing a Job in the Desert

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Here I am in Arizona!

It has been quite an adventure.  I love the palm trees reaching up to the blue sky, the splashes of orange fruit trees, and mountains canvased on the horizon. In the summer, I hear you can smell the oranges.

 

 There are adventures all over the place-- dances, hikes, dinners, games. In spite of the arid climate, which provides little nourishment to the rocky landscape, there are many opportunities for blossoming!

I'm not going to lie though. I was very flustered at first. I didn't believe I would have more luck getting a job here than I would in Illinois. And I didn't-- until I applied to Mesa Public Schools.
 
Jackpot! I filled out one online application. One. This one application was distributed to all the schools in the area, and there are a lot. I struck gold. I got around ten job interviews within two weeks. I was rolling in the interviews.

I was not, however, rolling in the Benjamins, much less in sanity. Fear and trepidation drove me to cancel a few interviews. Waiting for rejections (in my mind) along with the constant scrutiny of my competence, which comes with interviewing, was overwhelming.

Yet, like a true adventurer, I forged onward! Like the immense hero (that I am) I sallied forth! Into the great unknown-- public transportation.














I did not yet have money for my own  transportation. On my second bus connection to my interview I had so courageously committed to, I sat waiting at my bus stop. My heart dropped, however, as I watched my bus pass me by. It was the wrong bus stop. It was the wrong one. "Oh crap." Was another bus coming? How long would I have to wait? "Oh crap." I had a great internal struggle about how to proceed and I didn't have a lot of time to think.

Well, I didn't have anything else to do, so I thought I might as well walk the hour and a half to my interview. Great idea. Right? ... Right?

Sweat drenched my clothes as blisters formed on my feet. My puny muscles were not used to walking for so long. After a while, it seemed I had been walking forever yet the end of my trip seemed so distant.

 Meanwhile hundreds of cars passed me on the highway...all these cars and not one for me. I was like a person wandering through the desert without water while a caravan of strangers passed me with water laden camels. I passed a buffalo skull in someone's yard. Oh yeah, I was in the desert. Like literally. And I was thirsty for water. And I was dying for transportation.

 I couldn't take much more and several times I thought of just calling a taxi and skipping the whole charade. How worth it would this be if I didn't get the job? But somehow I made it. I was five minutes late. But I made it. I called a taxi to take me home after the interview.

The next day, I was rejected.

That episode blew me to smithereens.

I cancelled the next couple of interviews as I took some time to recover emotionally, and physically for that matter. I still have a blister on one of my toes! That toe did not want to be walked on ever again!

After a couple days, I was back on my feet. I got yet another interview. A friend gave me a ride thankfully. As I was leaving, my interviewer said, "I look forward to working with you."

"Did I hear her right?" She didn't say she would get back to me...She said she looked forward to working with me? Within hours after returning home I was called with a job offer.

 My response?

I danced around the house for a very long time.

So now, FINALLY, I am well on my way to employment!

Namaste