Whatever Wednesday: BB and WW Life Updates!

 What do fat activists do when they aren't blogging?

You may have noticed a lack of FAT updates for the past couple of days, so perhaps these LIFE updates will give you an idea about the exciting changes happening in the lives of the BB and the WW!

From the BB:

Post-College Life is NUTS!

There are several phases that myself and other graduates I know have gone through, in varying order, that seem to define this period in life.

For one, there’s the OH MY GOD I’M DONE WITH SCHOOL AND NOW I’M DONE WITH EVERYTHING ELSE PHASE!

This is the first phase that I went through. I wanted a break, BIG TIME. After graduation I just wanted to relax, spend some time with friends and family, and not worry about finding a job or doing any adult things. It was like reverting back to carefree teenage years. I slept in consistently for probably the first time in two years. I didn’t go to meetings. I didn’t work too often at my job. I relaxed and explored my own hobbies and interests again. I read and wrote more often.

It was kind of awesome.

But then, I went through an indecisive phase. What if I went to school for four years for the wrong degree? Is teaching what I really want?

I began blogging with the WW and wondered: Can I just do this forever?

I definitely want to continue writing this, and to publish books…that’s a certainty. But, teaching really is my passion, despite my hesitations.

Suddenly, and recently, I’ve cascaded into an empowered, confident, GET SHIT DONE phase. In just the past two weeks I have begun applying for teaching positions as well as another job in the town that my partner and I want to live in. I began making a budget, looking at our savings, and having realistic conversations about moving to an area with more teaching opportunities.

Miraculously, it paid off.

Just today my partner and I signed a lease for our first apartment in our ideal city! We are enthralled. I have two potential jobs as well.

Back in August, before student teaching, I had the feeling that my best years, the college years that I had anticipated forever, were over.

During my FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE phase, I thought this as well.

Now I’m finally realizing that there are other important things in life; that some of this adult shit is actually kinda great!

I can’t wait to start a job that I am fully educated and prepared for.

I can’t wait to decorate my new apartment and make a home with my partner.

I can’t wait to see where this blog and my other writing go.

I think that all of these crazy phases are extremely important. I’ve appreciated my leisure time to rediscover my interests after being CONSUMED with school and being busy. It was an important monthortwo that helped me re-evaluate myself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this update from the life of the BB! Fat activists do have to take care of day-to-day junk and make some time for introspection, too!

-The BB  

From the WW:

When I envisioned my life after college, I always pictured leaving with a teaching job already lined up and a house and no debt.  Obviously, I was very naïve, because I am very broke, very in debt, and I am still working at the Dollar Tree.  Can you tell how excited I am by that prospect?  Unfortunately, there are not a lot of openings for high school English teachers.  But I’m actually thinking this may work out for me, and while that could be the post-graduate-with-a-liberal-arts-degree syndrome, here’s why: I have been so focused on teaching (because you can’t be anything other than focused when you’re in the middle of trying to get your degree) that I haven’t had a chance to think about other things I might want to do.  Yeah, I am a licensed teacher now, but I also have a degree in English, which means I could do a lot of different things.  While I would love to teach, I am realizing that there is a whole world of opportunities out there, and some that include still working with high school students. 

Anyway, I am now planning on moving out of state and I have a job interview there at a daycare.  It will be a completely new experience for me, as I am used to being able to have conversations with teenagers.  Now I’ll have to adjust my conversational skills to the toddler level.  The little experience I have with that tells me that speaking with toddlers is a whole different story. 

Moving out of state is incredibly stressful, especially since my partner went ahead of me.  We may have to live separately for a while until we can find a good place for both of us to live, but we’re both hoping that making this sacrifice will make our lives better in the long run.

So if you don’t hear from me for a while, it is because I am frantically packing and job-searching and house-searching.  I will do my best to keep up with this and with the BB, because right now, this is my passion, and all of our readers are very important to me!