Ugh. This probably falls under the category of “gee, I wish I had YOUR problems,” but here goes.
I am a high school physics teacher. I worked in a school in the Boston area for two years (plus a year of student-teaching), and loved it. It is a wonderful school. I left last year to move to California, primarily because I’d lived here (CA) before and loved it, and also because I was, to a certain extent, running away from a failed romance. I had made the decision to move in October of 2003. At the end of last year, another romantic interest came about (as is always the case…), but I had already decided to move and in fact I had a job lined up in Northern California. However, the two of us kept a relatively serious long-distance relationship going, however, we decided that long distance won’t work any more. She works at my previous school.
After a year of working in Northern CA, I decided I really didn’t like my school. On a whim, I asked some other friends from my previous school (in the science department) if there were any physics openings for this upcoming year. There were not. So, I searched around and found a school in San Diego that sounded interesting. I ended up with a job interview in early June, got the job, and accepted it.
Lo and behold, last week one of the physics teachers quit at the Boston school, and I got two e-mails from friends saying, “Apply for the job! We want you back!” I immediately wrote back that it was too late, because I had already told the other school I’d work there. THEN, I got an e-mail from the SO cheerily asking if I was going to apply…this threw me into a tailspin.
So now I have to decide between two jobs. Both have pros, both have cons. The job in Boston is a much better job from a teaching perspective. The job in San Diego has many problems (big classes, I won’t have a classroom of my own, small budget for materials), however it is a place that needs a good physics teacher. Boston is cold in the winter, San Diego is a weather Garden of Eden. San Diego has much better Navy Reserve opportunities (I’m in the reserves). San Diego is a closer move. San Diego pays more money (~$3000/yr). I already have lots of friends in Boston. Boston has my SO, whom I care for very much. If I go back we will give it a shot together, if I go to San Diego, we’ll be finished from a romantic perspective.
I have to make a decision by tomorrow morning (in other words, I have to call up my former department head in Boston and say that I won’t apply for the job. He’s let me know that if I want it, I’ll get it).
Help…
-Tofer