A New Chapter

About a year and a half ago, I handed in my 2-week notice with my employer at the time. It was not an easy choice and in some ways, it was a decision I regretted the moment the words crossed my lips. The Ounce of Prevention Fund does a lot of good for children not only in Illinois but across the country and most of the people who work there are true champions for a great cause. To leave just seemed a bit asinine, really.

Yet life goes on; careers advance. The decision to move on and become the Webmaster at the Chicago-Kent College of Law proved to be the right one.

For truly the first time in my career, my direct supervisor knew as much (if not more) about web design, development, SEO, and social media administration than I. He challenged my previously held positions on, well, everything and pushed me to think outside the comfort zone that I’d been in for 10+ years. He was a stickler for details and procedures – which is often forgotten when it comes to something as easily changeable as the web – and there is no doubt he made me better at my job.

In some ways, he was a mentor.

Yet I speak of him in the past tense because last Friday I gave my 2-week notice.

In a little more than two weeks, I’ll be taking the helm as the new “Web Analytics and Optimization Specialist” at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s an exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to get started.

Now. Some of you might be wondering what, the hell, a “Web Analytics and Optimization Specialist” truly does. Honestly? I don’t know. (Ok, that’s not entirely true. I’ve read the job description.) I’ll still be working on the university’s website and playing a key role in the marketing strategy of their online presence. Yet how that will truly look, we’ll see. GCU’s Digital Marketing Department is a conglomerate of many web-related disciplines and I’m just honored that they feel my background and experience would benefit their efforts to educate others – albeit indirectly.

And to think: just 5-months ago, I had never even been to Arizona. I know one person living in the Grand Canyon State – a former drinking buddy and big Blackhawks fan who moved out there a decade ago to get married. It’s a big step and a scarey move but one made for all the right reasons.

In this case, the move isn’t about career growth, more money or a better title; surprisingly, it’s also not about leaving the frozen tundra that was Chicago’s Winter of 2013-14. It’s about my wife. More specifically, her health. Living in the Chicago area is doing some major damage to her health and the combination of medicines is, quite frankly, not helping. The solution, therefore, is to move. Move to the Southwest.

Some people seem to think I’m doing such a great thing moving to a place I’ve never been and knowing virtually no one. I don’t. It’s what anyone would/should do for their family; for someone they love. I’ve little doubt my wife would do it for me.

So yeah, it’s a blind move but the reasons are obviously crystal clear.

Of course, I leave in a little more than two weeks and don’t even have a place to live yet. I’d better get on that, huh?