Sweet! We share both a time frame, and a useless degree! 😉 (Neither English nor Art are actually useless; both teach you a lot, but it’s hard to convince anybody that it’s worth hiring you over.)
The best part of what I’m doing now… In terms of my degree, or the job I’m after? Eh, I’ll do both.
The best thing about my degree is probably what it’s taught me about myself. I’ve learned a lot about the field I’m studying, of course. But when I started it…I’m one of those disgusting people who can coast through life and still pretty much be successful, right? But when I started this program, I said to myself, “Let’s see what I can really do.” And I learned a hell of a lot: about my limits (particularly how much I can responsibly take on given a specified time frame), about what I have to offer, about how to take my interests and skills and needs and weave them into what I want for a career, and about how to present myself in a way that both stays true to myself and effectively communicates who I am and what I have to offer to others. I’ve also learned a lot about building relationships, making friends, and gaining mentors. It’s been the most flat-out amazing and productive two years of my life.
The best thing about the job I’m looking at is the challenge. I’d be stepping into a role that doesn’t actually exist yet. I’d be creating what I do, and building an infrastructure for a program that has, up till now pretty much been managed via heroics rather than through organized process. I love that idea. I love building order out of chaos. (And reveling in chaos is kind of fun too. ^_^) Equally great, though, is that it’s a position where I’d be helping people to reach their full potential—freeing up time for staff and faculty to do their jobs and be awesome, and also helping students and prospective students to get all the information they need to make the best decisions for themselves.