Two-Thousand Miles and Two Years Later

Alexis Austin

Western Illinois University

When I accepted my offer to go to Western Illinois University for my graduate degree, I spent a lot of time convincing people that I would be okay living in Illinois for two years. “You can live anywhere for two years,” I told them. I was parroting what I had heard at the interview days for the program, since every time I asked people how they liked living in Macomb they responded that you could live anywhere for two years. Looking back, I was also convincing myself of this. I had chosen my undergrad based on its somewhat close proximity to my hometown and had moved quite a bit in the gap between undergrad and grad school, but I was never more than three hours away from my parents. When I moved to Illinois from Washington state, I was moving over two-thousand miles from the only support system I knew. The first couple of months were hard, but I made it through with the help of my program, mentors, and the friends I found along the way.

Flash forward to now. I am searching for jobs in housing and am still surprised that some of my top choices are in the Midwest. I went through the process at the Oshkosh Placement Exchange (or as I like to call it, #OshThisKosh) because there were schools in the Midwest that I actively want to work at. I actually liked the experience and I fell in love with quite a few of the schools I interviewed with. I repeat, this was not part of the plan two years ago when I moved to the land of cornfields. I was not supposed to like these people or this place. So much for that, right?

In one sudden moment, I felt like I was betraying everything that I had told everyone when I first moved to Illinois. I had come in with the mindset of not getting attached, so that I could easily transition back to the Pacific Northwest where my people lived. When I started applying for jobs, my parents seemed a little surprised. I think my mom actually panicked a bit, which I realized when she frantically offered to buy me a pony if I moved back to Washington; I still think this was half joke, half serious. But now that I have a couple of on-campus interviews in the Midwest lined up, and after I’ve talked through what I like so much about each of these schools, my mom is getting on board.

After talking through what it looks like for me if I do get a job offer for the Midwest, my mom said something that simultaneously put a pit in my stomach and made my heart the happiest it had felt in weeks. She said, “When you make your list of pros and cons for these schools, you cannot include them not being in Washington on your cons list.” My best friend has told me that she will buy me two ponies as long as I go where I’m happy, regardless of the location of the school. I feel surrounded by support. It’s great.

I’ve had successful interviews in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. I’m confident that I am employable and that I will get a job that I love. I know that I’m going to rely heavily on my on-campus interviews to ensure that where I go is the right fit. And I think I’m finally at a point where I know that it doesn’t matter where my next home is on a map—it’ll be home no matter what. It’s exciting, and terrifying, and actually a little bit eye-opening to be going through this process and realizing that the person who, two years ago, said that she could live anywhere for two years is now considering living anywhere for an undetermined amount of time. Who knew the difference two years could make?