How it all began...

Harry Potter dress-up day has arrived!

I applied for academic jobs as an ABD (All But Dissertation) doctoral student and had several interviews with institutions in various parts of the country... but did not ultimately end up with the highly prized tenure-track assistant professor position I was searching for. After much consultation with my various awesome mentors and family members (aka my parents and Al) I took a little extra time to finish up my dissertation. 

I successfully defended my dissertation on July 25, 2011 and walked across that Aggie stage in my Harry Potter-esque graduation gown on December 17, 2011.  

Woohoo! Adios, Aggieland! Thanks to everyone who traveled from near and far to celebrate this special day with me. 

It was quite memorable.   ; )  
Now you can all call me Dr. Martinez... 

The BEST social support system I could ever ask for! I love you Al, Mom, & Dad! 

Commencement ~ December 17, 2011 ~ Texas A&M University ~ Reed Arena, College Station, TX

We moved back to Houston shortly after my defense so that I could teach full time as a lecturer at the University of Houston - Downtown (which is where I'd been teaching every summer in between my doc studies). Thank goodness Al's line of work, personal training, is flexible because mine is much less so! He's been a trooper. Poor guy sucked up small (college) town life with me in College Station for the last year I had to go to complete my doc degree. 

I owe Al one of these "I survived my wife's Ph.D. dissertation" t-shirts: http://www.zazzle.com/phd_survivor_tshirt-235258446195222231

Now a newly-minted Ph.D., I ventured onto the academic job market for a second round to see if I could land that ideal job now that I had my Ph.D. in hand. Again, I had several interviews but this time I came away from the job market with options. Imagine that! 

I went on a campus visit in early November. The itinerary was madness -- I taught Monday all day, went straight to the airport from campus, flew out that evening, arrived in North Carolina around midnight, had my interview from 8 a.m. until about 8 p.m. the following day, and then flew back to Houston on Wednesday morning super early to be back on campus in time to teach my classes. It was exhausting and exciting all at once but I was pumped on adrenaline at the prospect of landing my dream job. On my day's worth of interviewing, I fell in love with the scenery (the trees, the colorful, beautiful trees!), the people I met were friendly, my future colleagues were welcoming and the students I had lunch with as part of my interview were obviously self-motivated and eager for academic challenges -- all music to my ears.

This is one week I will never forget. Come Friday of that same week of my whirlwind trip to N.C., I was doing some grading at a coffee shop when I got an email from the Dean requesting a phone chat as soon as possible. I emailed back immediately and then the Dean called me. I was overwhelmed with happiness, relief, and peace to hear him say how much everyone enjoyed getting to know me on my visit to campus... and he was hoping I was still interested because he was calling to offer me the job!!!! 

*Dr. (S)Martinez*

I must have sounded like teenage girl me, giddy with joy and gushing with (happy) disbelief, but trying to present my mature, composed, and professional Dr. Martinez persona! 
I immediately texted my parents and Al to tell them about the job offer. My mom called me that instant and we gushed over the details. I waited to tell anyone else until Al got home from work and read the 2 emails from the Dean to confirm that I did not, in fact, dream up this whole situation. I didn't hear from him immediately after I sent the text message, so I figured he was just busy at work and hadn't seen it. But when he got home and seemed oblivious, I knew he missed the memo. Sure enough, he hadn't seen my text! I was like, "Uh... I got the job. Didn't you see my message?!" Haha.  

He let out a sigh of relief (possibly/definitely a tear of joy) and gave me a long congratulatory hug. I made him read the emails for himself confirming my conversation with the Dean and the details we'd discussed. Then, I made him read the emails out loud to me... it was real! Dream job acquired!

I would soon be on the tenure-track as an assistant professor joint-hired in Communication Studies, Sociology, and Education at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina (just 20 minutes north of Charlotte) http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x12.xml?debug=2.
A couple of weeks later and after many conversations with Al about this opportunity, I formally accepted the job offer.


This is the first time Al will move away from Texas and I'm leaving after 12 years! Some opportunities come along once in a lifetime and we figure we've got nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain. Our family and friends will remain close to our hearts as we physically move far away, we'll prioritize regular visits and, of course, technology will enable us to keep in touch always.