2012 in review
I ended 2011 on a not very happy note, feeling stuck in both my personal and my professional life, and fully expecting 2012 to bring more of the same. Well, 2012, you sure blew those expectations away, didn’t you? I’ve never in my whole life been happier to have been proved completely wrong.
In January, I spotted a posting for a literature subject librarian job at NYU. “Wow,” I thought when I read the description. “That would be amazing. That’s completely up my alley. And it’s in New York, which would be awesome. And they’ll probably have 500 applicants beating down their doors, and at least 300 of them will be as qualified as me, or better.” (You have to understand, I’d been job-hunting for a year and a half at that point, and had been rejected without even an interview for some jobs I thought were perfect matches, so I was in a fairly deep pessimistic funk at the time.) But I went ahead and applied anyway, even though I was certain that they’d never consider me.
In March, to my utter shock, I had a phone interview for the NYU job. I couldn’t tell how it went (with phone interviews, it can be hard to tell), and I went right back to expecting rejection and wondering if maybe I shouldn’t just run away and join the circus.
In May I took off for a vacation in the UK, and right before I left, I got called for an in-person interview at NYU. A minor freakout ensued, but fortunately I had the trip to distract me.
In July the interview (delayed because I was out of the country during the initial round of interview dates) finally happened, and I left feeling optimistic and hopeful about my job prospects for the first time in months, and even more excited about the position at NYU and the people I’d be working with. Then I went off to Rare Book School, which effectively took my mind off the nail-biting. Plus I made a bunch of new friends there, some of whom I now get to hang out with because they also live in New York.
At the beginning of August, I got the job offer. And after that, everything happened at what felt like a breakneck pace. In September I moved to New York and started working at NYU a few days later, and the new job and the new location have both been so fantastic that I still can’t quite believe it’s all real.
2012 was also the year when I learned the basics of letterpress printing; the year when dear friends of mine had a baby, for whom I’m enjoying playing the role of Honorary Auntie Who Knits Baby Things; the year when I climbed my first proper mountain (the first of many, I’m hoping); and the year I started doing both database-building and actual writing for the Potential Book Project. And the year of Hurricane Sandy, of course. But I think I’m going to be thinking of 2012 as a personal annus mirabilis for a very long time to come. I hope I never stop being grateful for what this year has brought.
Happy 2013 to you and yours, Reader, and may it bring you wonders of all kinds, and peace, and joy.
What a wonderful story for the new year! And I’m so glad we’ll be working together at NYU. Funny you should mention joining the circus – an ITS employee left her job last year to go to circus school and then join the circus. It was a lifelong dream of hers and now she’s doing it.
I know I’ve told you this before, but I am so happy for you, that I want to do the Kermit arm flail thing sometimes. I’m so glad it worked out! 🙂