7 Year Cicadas | 05/24/04
I found out today my options for flying up to W&M and elected to go earlier rather than later. I think going first shows that you're confident. True, going last might help you stick in their brains a little more, going first makes the other candidates play to your level. This can backfire, of course, if they're better than you but if they're better than you, they're going to get the job anyway. Although this isn't the case (I'm sure), I'm trying to operate under the mindset that I'm the only candidate. Sure, these other two people not only exist, but are most likely just as (if not more so) qualified to be there. While I don't know their backgrounds of course, I imagine my advantage to be that I've taught before. There's no doubt in my mind that a lot of people could do this job extremely well if it weren't for the fact they had to collaborate with professors who (in some cases) want nothing to do with them. Although I'm not a faculty pet by ANY means, I do have a tendency to get along with the toughies. Whether it's my bad-boy attitude, rugged good-looks or cocky gleam in my eye, since high school I've always been better situated with the bad kids than the good kids. And not that they're bad, just misunderstood. While there are a lot of things on my mind, the biggest is: cicadas. What if one flies into my mouth while I'm eating or talking? What if they get stuck in my hair and I don't know about it and then have to give a lecture on technology and hygiene? What if one flies into my Indian food and somehow gets sautéed into it (oh wait that's roaches and Tallahassee) and then they won't take it back and everyone is looking at me like it's no big deal? I bought some new shoes yesterday that have two very important qualities: very thick soles and high on the sides. This way, the cicadas will have a more difficult time penetrating my exterior clothing. Why couldn't Virginia be infested with snakes right now? Or Morey Eels? Or something that I wouldn't want for a pet but could still handle stepping on. I don't know a ton about cicadas but apparently they lose their shells. I'm not sure if they molt these shells or when a bird eats them, they suck out the guts and leave the shell. I'm definitely hoping for the second option because as far as I'm concerned a shell is almost as bad as a live cicada, so if these are molted shells, then there's going to be twice as many bugs. Bleh. My dad pointed out of this is the worst things I'm thinking about, I'm probably in pretty good shape. Hi Nathan and Jara!
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