Interview #2

Forty-five minutes before my flight took off from the Buffalo Airport (which is 20 minutes from our apartment in downtown) I was in the shower, thinking I had plenty of time to get ready. Zach bursting in, demanding that I get out immediately and dress, came as nasty shock. Apparently we (and by we, I of course mean I) had mis-read the departure time so I was minutes away from missing an impending flight to an extremely important interview!

Long story short: I arrived at the airport 12 minutes before my flight, got my boarding pass printed, whipped through security, ran to my gate, then ran back to security to retrieve my license (which I had dropped after the x-ray machine), and finally made it onto my plane just in time. What a way to start a trip! It didn’t help that I had worked the night before 5pm-10:30pm at Merge, then at the Holiday Inn 11pm to 7am that morning, and only slept for two hours before getting up to get ready. Being that I took three days off for my interview in Michigan and then three more the next week for an interview in Missouri, all my missed shifts got crammed in to the few days I was actually here.

Anyway, the real reason I’m blogging (other than the strangely unexplainable joy that seeps into my soul every time I do), is to report on my interview at Truman State University. Which I’ll risk spoiling this entire post and by giving it away and tell you went really well! But before I get to the jump-up-and-down exciting part…

I flew in to Kansas City on Tuesday evening and my friend Myles picked me up at the airport. We gathered a few other friends and met for dinner at Chipotle. As I sat around the table in the setting sun (it was actually warm enough to eat outside!), happiness wrapped me in a big bear hug. I looked around at Hollie, Tehau, Diana, Heather, Jurgen (who was visiting all the way from The Netherlands!), Myles, Cory, and Celeste and felt lucky to just be sitting in their presence.

After a time not nearly long enough, I squeezed goodbyes out of them and headed to my aunt’s house to borrow her car for the road-trip I had yet to make that evening. I was scheduled for a full day interview on Wednesday and Truman had booked me at a local bed and breakfast for the night before. Since Kirksville is three hours from Independence, I definitely had to put my game face on. No room for tiredness!

After a very large coffee drink and four times through a great Dixie Chicks CD (which was one of the two options my aunt’s car offered), I arrived safe and sound, in time to crash into bed just before midnight. What a trip.

One of Truman’s current Hall Directors picked me up the next morning. I saw what appeared to be the outline of Oregon on his water-bottle but I didn’t want to seem like a doof for not knowing the shape of the state I was currently in, so I asked, “Oh, is that a sticker of Missouri?” Turns out I seemed like an even bigger doof because he’s from Oregon and, apparently, I can’t even confidently recognize the shape of the state I have lived the majority of my life in…

My first official interview involved a few (current and future) student leaders called “Community Coordinators”. I really enjoyed meeting the students and getting a feel for what it would be like to interact with them in this new role. Being intentional with relationships is something I try to put a lot of energy into; how nice will it be for that to be part of my job? Focus on students. Laugh with them. Listen to them. Support them in any and every way you know how. What a great job!

The day consisted of a series of interviews with different people around campus, tours of buildings, campus, and the surrounding town, and getting to know people. I met with the Dean of Students, all the Hall Directors, the Res. Life staff, many students, and even the President of Truman! When I met just the few people from Truman who came to OPE to interview candidates, I got a really good vibe from them. After meeting so many more wonderful people, I felt even more sure that it’s a place I would love to live and work!

At the end of the day, I sat down with the Interim Director of the Res. Life program and he asked me if I was willing to share about any other on-campus interviews or prospects. I told him I had no problem being completely open and honest with him. I mentioned my visit to Northern Michigan the week before, how it went pretty well, and that I was expecting to hear from them within a couple days. He told me they are flying three more people to Truman next week (which is this week) but “…everyone that met you today loved you. So, if we need to speed up our process for you: we will.” This is definitely the part where I felt jump-up-and-down happy but had to pretend like I belonged in that expensive suit I’d paraded around in all day. So, I showed complete composure and waited until an hour later when I was alone in my room at the bed and breakfast and then I let those floorboards have it!

TO BE CONTINUED…

(as much as I hate to do this, I have to work right now but if I have a break, I’ll finish the rest soon!)