Mother Knows

Sometimes I have a difficult time accepting unsolicited advice from my mom. It's like I'm still trying to prove, after 8 years of living away from home, that I'm independent, bright, capable of functioning on my own. Maybe it's a lingering echo of that phrase all toddlers master: "No! I do it!"

But sometimes, Mom's right. I have two case studies to illustrate.

1. Matthew, as everyone who knows him knows, is an exceptionally smart, hard-working guy. But for whatever reason, by mid-June, we still didn't know whether he was going to get in to medical school. We kept our fingers crossed for Midwestern, where he was on a waiting list. During that time, my mom called more than once to suggest that Matthew just go up to the admissions office and talk to them. Maybe a spot would open and they'd give it to him. I thought it was sort of silly, but I agreed to humor her and mention it to Matthew. Anyway, we went. Matt was in the admissions office for less than 5 minutes. We drove back to Mesa thinking, oh, well. And the next day, he was in.

2. I like to think that I would be a great employee for a variety of employers. And when I got my master's degree last summer, I assumed it was my ticket to a very enjoyable (if low-paying) job in a library, a school, a museum, or an organization involving books in some way. But I think the last time I even had an interview was in February. Mom's advice to me in this situation: You should call the community colleges and see if there are any positions. Sometimes, they might have something they haven't posted online yet. At the time, I thought, oh, Mom. You just don't understand the age of technology. If there was a job, they'd post it. Well, last week in church, somebody heard me say that I had degrees in English and and humanities, and said, "the community colleges need English teachers." "Really?" I said, "I've been checking the job postings and haven't seen anything..." She assured me I should just get in touch with the various department chairpeople. On Thursday I sent my info to three people. Within an hour I had an interview set up. This morning at the interview, the head of the English department at PVCC gave me the job.

So. . . thanks, Mom. Call again soon.