The above image is there since I claim to be a photographer… It has no bearing on the subject of this post.
I have mentioned before I volunteer for a “Fab Lab” (a place with machines and tools like 3d printers and laser cutters, allow people to make things) in Bergerac.
A while back someone from the Fab Lab emailed a couple of job postings for positions opening up locally to the group.
I didn’t take note.
Later he asked me if I had applied to one of the positions he thought I was ideal for.
I hadn’t.
Then we had him over for lunch and he asked again…
(you see where this is going)
I applied for the position of teacher/fab lab manager on a lark. it was a few days until the deadline, so I threw a quick CV together.
I got an email back 2 days later which led to a 5 minute interview (to see if I had a pulse).
That led to a 20 minute interview (20 scheduled, 30 actual).
That went well.
I wasn’t sure if it was relevant but I decided to put my Academy Award winner status on the CV. My wife thought it was an odd flex, but I figured why not spice it up… My interviewers were impressed.
This is all taking place in late July and then August happened. As you may know, nothing gets done in France in August, and predictably, I heard nothing back from them.
Until I did.
“I am delighted to announce that you will begin teaching at BERGERAC for the coming year as a FAB LAB teacher.”
I was hoping to learn more about the position. Visit the campus, ask some questions. That logical progression sort of thing that one comes to expect when one has interviewed for a job.
I interviewed for a job about 20 years ago, It was an 8 hour process, 9 if you count going to lunch with the people interviewing me.
35 minutes seems brief, I don’t know…
This job is a weird situation.
First, I am not entirely sure I know what I will be doing, exactly. I will be corroborating with teachers to design a year long project. I will be helping the students realize this project.
The position is teaching kids in the equivalent of 11th and 12th grade.
I know that it starts in October.
I do not now where the classes will take place.
I do not know who my boss is.
I will be working 182 hours, 91 this year, 91 next year.
I have my schedule, it is peppered with full and half days.
I think this is a new program in Bergerac.
It is worth noting that I speak very limited French.
All verbal comms have been through my wife. The kids speak English, English is part of their curriculum.
I for one am panicked.
The job I interviewed 9 hours for was panic.
Pure uncut panic.
Like if the panic were cocaine, it would still be slightly damp with the acetone used for the final rinse.
That pure.
Uncut.
I survived the job and the panic.
I worked there 16 years.
I invented a lot of cool stuff there and not only learned my limits, but I tempered and honed the blade that is my mind into a resilient tool.
That resilience is part of what allowed me to sell everything and move to France. While my wife debated and vacillated (a little), I was set in stone in my conviction. I knew we would that whatever came up we would solve it.
That willingness to “just do it” is firmly seated in 16 years of surviving panic. Actually not just surviving panic, but thriving in it.
16 years of surfing the panic like a wave.
When we came here we weren’t sure how we would spend our time. Originally I was going to be working remote for my (then) current employer, but that fell through.
My fallback to keep busy was to teach…something.
Photography, non-precious prototyping, anything, so I guess I got my dream.
I’ll keep you posted.
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