So, I have a couple of options that I could pursue in m life right now, and I’m having a hard time choosing which one is the best.
Right now, my fiance lives in Lansing, MI, and I live in Chesterfield Township, MI. We’re about 130 miles apart, which hasn’t been too bad. I work for a small cable provider, and am supposed to be going back this fall to get my teaching certificate. My internship is all set up, I’ve met my mentor, and she seems to be a good person. I’m going to go and observe her teach next Monday, and we’re going to discuss the coming fall at that time. I’ll be teaching 7th grade English, which is awesome, because I really enjoy kids who are that age. I’m older and much more prepared than I was the last time I attempted student teaching. The drawback is that I haven’t done anything school related since June of 2005. I’m also not 100% sure how I feel about the teaching profession anymore. Some days I want nothing more than to get back in the classroom, but on others I’m still so upset from my past experience that I become very anxious about this.
We’ll call doing my internship Option A.
Kate (my fiance) (BTW, how the heck do I insert the proper accent on the “e” there?) just accepted a job in Gilbert, AZ, teaching German at one of the high schools there. Gilbert is about 2100 miles from my home. Neither of us has ever been to Arizona for more than a stop on a long road trip as a kid, so we have no real knowledge of the area. She would love for me to move out there with her in July. The thought of being 2100 miles apart for 5 months is excruciating for both of us, but I could handle it. If I move with her, I could sub teach at the local schools for a year, then start a post-bac teaching program at ASU, which is only 10 miles from the apartment she’s looking at. Or, I could get a different job in sales or (yech) cable. Cable would be easier, since I have earned national certification as an installer. Then, I could work on a MA and eventually my PhD, which I’d like to do anyways.
We’ll call an immediate move to Gilbert Option B.
Staying here has some definite advantages: I’ll (hopefully) get my certification, and be able to get a full-time teaching job in the Phoenix area fairly easily next year. Well, actually, that’s the only advantage to staying.
Going there also has advantages: Immediate gratification, starting our life together in the same place, and the adventure of moving to a totally new place to us are three of the biggest.
So Dopers, I ask you teeming millions, what should I do?