When I was a graduate student working on my dissertation, I realized that I had one real goal for it: to get a job. That didn't so much work, and the reasons why aren't worth chronicling. I moved on to a larger, longer, more difficult project about Superman, still with the same goal.
It worked.
Well, technically, the Superman book got me an interview. From there I had to do the rest of the work in person. The book's release coincided with a good year for folklore jobs in North America, and so I applied several places. I returned to conferences for the first time in a while, too, to remind people in my field that I still exist, and to meet new folks, too.
The result: I'm now Assistant Professor of Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland. This fall I will teach Introduction to Folklore as well as a course on Urban Legends. Future courses include Folklore and Popular Culture, and whatever else comes up.
Right now I'm sitting in my new office, waiting for all my books to arrive and marveling at the resources I now have available. I undertook my Superman project without funding, without guidance, and without equipment. Things sure have changed.
Also, somehow I'm only a mile from the ocean. And if you head due east from where I am, there's only water between here and France. I saw some humpback whales the other day.
