It beginneth

Tomorrow is my first day of classes at Shimer College. It still stuns me how good an outcome this is, and more broadly how well things have turned out despite my graduating in the midst of the financial crisis. In fact, even though the job market caused me a great deal of distress, my path — a visiting position right after graduation, followed by a permanent position — was, in the end, remarkably “normal” and smooth.

I wish it could be so for all of us, but the world is poorly made. I wish all of you good luck in this coming year, wherever you have wound up for now — and if you’re on the job market, I raise a toast: “Next year on the tenure track!”