Captain of my own starship...

...or ensign on the Enterprise -- which is preferable?

I ask this because I've just thrown my hat into the ring for a job which has opened up here at Widener. It's not a professional position, but it's way further up the food chain than my current job and would provide an excellent haven for me to finish the history portion of my dual degree without having to visit Ye Olde Coinstar Machine on a weekly basis. Even better, it's a 9-to-5 position, which means that if I got the job I'd get my weekends back (something Mrs. and Baby Exile are quite excited about!), and perhaps a little of my sanity as well.

But nevertheless, it's a grade or two short of librarian -- a job title I was hoping to attain sometime in early 2006, after I finished the last of my GSLIS courses at the end of this semester. As a result, part of me can't help but feel that I'm settling for less than I should be at this point in my career, although I know that I'll be even more marketable if I bide my time and finish the MA in History first rather than try to complete it while juggling a bonafide librarian's workload. But whether I get out there this January or perhaps a few semesters later, I'll still be out there soon enough. Why rush things, if I have the option not to?

Perversely enough, this wouldn't be so agonizing a problem if I didn't already work at one of the best libraries in the world. It's kind of like that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation when Commander Wil Riker is offered his own command, only to turn it down (he also gets the crap beaten out of him by his dad playing what appears to be a game ripped straight out of American Gladiators). Riker makes it clear that he'd rather be fry cook on the Enterprise than captain of some no-name vessel, a decision that I thought was just plain dumb at the time. Now I'm not so sure.