My boss told me a few months ago that when reviewing resumes for the job I currently hold one thing stood out in everyone’s mind. While some other influential opinions held out for other candidates, one phrase from the header of my paperwork helped me to stand out. I thought it pertinent to address that issue because it just goes to show you that you never know what might work out for you and that the Lord works in mysterious ways.
After finishing graduate school and being essentially laid off, I embarked on a concerted quest to find gainful employ. The connections allegedly forged by my father proved either unable or unwilling to deliver on their promises, and so I quickly turned to the general job market. Every job at which I thought I had a remote chance and in which I was even remotely interested received an application and resume from me. Seemingly, the more I sent out, the more rejections came back, but still I kept trying to elevate my estate.
Government jobs proved the most frustrating. Some of the rejections didn’t surprise me, but the ones that infuriated me said something to the effect that “You were chosen for further consideration, but another qualified candidate was selected”. In every case, the rejections came with such an air of ambiguity that I knew not how to improve my chances or where I made a mistake. However, the unintended benefit of these applications was yet to be seen.
As part of a federal job application, federal law requires a statement as to your citizenship. Accordingly, I inserted into the header of these job applications just after my personal identifying information the following words:
“I solemnly swear that I am a US Citizen”
At the time I had no idea that this phrase would eventually get me exactly where God wanted me to be.
While the powers that be at this university debated relative credentials and potential and balked at the prospects that I might not stay here for a prolonged period which would necessitate further hiring, my boss could not get that phrase out of mind. My boss comes from the Philippines originally and values very much the precious gift of US citizenship. In the end, my boss held out against the opposition and chose me for the job I currently hold.
While anecdotal at best, this seemingly inauspicious comment, obscure in the header, saved my skin and put me into a position that has done more to elevate my life than anything else I’ve ever done. Although not a faculty position per se, this job has allowed me to teach, to keep abreast of science, to putatively get into research, to ultimately perhaps get a PhD, to make a difference in the lives of students, and to make something of my life. God went to great lengths keeping me in Nevada, and he seems to have spared no amount of effort getting me onto the staff of this learning institution. I know for a fact that in small ways at least my presence here has already made a difference and changed lives.
You may think this is foolishness in me to think this way. By small and simple things oftentimes are great things brought to fruiting, and small means in many instances confounds the wise. Edison and ordinary thread gave us the first lightbulb; a humble Idaho farmboy gave us television; a frontiersman gave us the Emancipation proclamation. God works through means to bring to pass his eternal purposes, and by very small means he confounds the wise and brings to pass the salvation of many souls.
Despite the economic downturn and threats of putative reduction of force at this institution, I am doing better at this time in my life than at any other that I recall. Professors at this institution, including the department chair, have already attested to their belief that the institution cannot dispense with my services. I started initiatives that saved the institution more money than it costs to employ me. I teach as well as perform staff research scientist duties. I helped validate and bring new experiments online. I repaired or reevaluated equipment and put it to use, eliminating new capital expenditures. Most importantly of all, if not for this job and the free time it provides me in the evenings, I may never have written/finished any books, read as many as I have, or met some of the fine people whose acquaintance it has been my great privilege to make, and who have indelibly touched my life.
I may still be alone, but I account my being single as a blessing. Everything else for which I hold God accountable or in which I recognize his hand seems intended toward my good fortune. I refuse to believe that deficiency to be anything but of similar fashion and intention. I do not know what he intends, but I thank him for all those rejections in federal jobs. Arguably I do more for the cause of liberty and of worth to the souls of men here than I would there. Also, it served, by the monotony of repetition to cement a phrase into my curriculum vitae that landed me where I am today.
I solemnly swear that I am a United States Citizen, in every sense of the word.
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