Adele's Update: June 2011

Last days as "Ms. Adele, preschool teacher." At the end of next week, I'll move on and be a full-time student for a while.
I know I'll miss these pumpkins. I've learned a ton from them this year...

It's been a very long time since I've written a general update. And since a major change is underway in my life yet again, it might be good to bring you up to speed on the constantly-changing world of Adele...

Weren't you going to Indonesia for two years?
When I moved to Indonesia last summer, I thought it was for two years. The plan was to teach little ones at the new city campus of an international school. The teaching load would've afforded me the time and energy to devote my evenings to completing the final phase of my studies: my dissertation. And then the plan was to go try and find a teaching position at a university somewhere around the world in my field, Transformational Leadership.

However, a month into my time here, I was asked to move to our other campus in southern parts of Jakarta. The move meant a drastic increase in my teaching hours, and I realized right away that this would have long-term implications on my plans to finish my dissertation and move to things that's more up my alley. So I renegotiated my contract with the school and agreed to stay on for just one year rather than the original two.

So what's next?
This meant that I had to start my job search anew January. Though it would be way easier to find a position in the international teaching circuit (I could've even stayed on and just moved to teaching high school, what I'm trained to do). But that's not my long-term goal nor my passion, and I thus decided to step out in faith and apply for university positions again.

One opportunity in Kuala Lumpur looked very good. We started a dialogue, and somewhere along the way, someone higher up at the university sidetracked my application and asked me to instead consider a position at a partner institute. It was a position that would afford me amazing opportunities to work alongside a brilliant strategist in the field of transformational leadership. Everything about the position seemed to fit perfectly. All in all, I had 13 interviews, two of which were formal presentations to a panel. Everything looked very positive. But in the end, I was told they thought I'd be bored in the position, that I'm an abstract thinker and they needed a concrete thinker... I would still love to work with this group somewhere down the line in a different role. Time will tell.

So I went back to visiting with the university in KL about the original position there, the one I first applied for in January. They told me they'll make a decision by July... It's a great position, and I'd love for it to work out. But I won't just hang around Asia and wait to hear.

Where are you flying to when school closes?
School closes in two weeks' time, and I get to return to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to focus on working on my dissertation. Cedar Rapids is home for me when I'm in the US. I could go home to South Africa, but studying wouldn't be as easy there. Hence, I'm going to Iowa, where I have a car and community, and access to great university libraries.

I am very excited about diving into my dissertation and having time to focus just on being a student. I am excited about living with good friends for the next few months. I'll be staying at my friend Nan's house and making use of one of the college libraries in town for my writing times. I look forward to just being with close friends. I look forward to having the freedom to get into my car and go places. I look forward to getting as much of my dissertation done as is possible! I look forward to going to a Living Proof event the weekend after I arrive. I look forward to doing some traveling around the US. I look forward to going to see my sister Liesl and her family, and helping them as they move. I look forward to seeing my adorable nieces. I look forward to getting my cup filled doing things I love, seeing people I love... and then writing from a place of fullness.

Once I know whether I got the job in KL or not, I'll obviously post an update. But for now, my goal is to be a full-time doctoral student for the next season.

What the season after that will hold, God only knows!