I am going to be taking an official leave of absence from WOK.
This may seem totally out of the blue, and really, it pretty much is. The bottom line is, one of my career options lies down the path of outdoor education, which is basically helping today's kids interact with the environment we live in and learn from it. Some of you OLDtimers may remember I took a summer or two off back a few years ago to work at overnight camp- well, this is somewhat of an outgrowth of that. I have had many feelers out in terms of finding a job in this field, and much to my surprise and delight, an extremely good job opportunity has arisen for me for the coming year. Before this point I was tied down by my education, now, armed with my degrees, I don't have anything holding me back from doing what I love.That opportunity is going to require me to move out of state, from lovely Chicago to SUNNY California, baby. A horrible sacrifice, but somebody's got to do it!
I'm going to be working in the beautiful San Jacinto mountains, and suffice it to say, I don't think that my job description or the internet access out there is going to allow me to continue on in WOK. I will probably have access to email maybe once a week, I'm guessing, and that's going to be my entire connection to the online world.I love WOK- I've put more effort into this hobby of mine than any other for the past five years, that goes without saying. And I won't be gone forever (you can stop cheering TK!), at least, probably not. The first session runs from about now to the end of November, I'll be home all of December, and then I ship back out again for the second session. Depending on how things go for me, this may become my full time career from this year onward, which would mean I move to California permanently, and once some administration opportunities arise regarding this sort of work, I'll have regular nighly email access again. I may also decide I'd rather go back to regular teaching instead- this is all going to be quite the adventure for me, in the nature of testing the waters.
Anyway- I won't be playing or GMing any games for the next year at least though, at least, unless I really decide I hate Cali and come back home.
Another thing about this is I am going to have to be leaving very SOON. Like, tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest. Trust me I know how short this notice was- the job came through two days ago and I've been scrambling around ever since. I hate to leave the WOK 6 development team so early in the makings of the game, but I'll be around for some playtesting and such in a few months if it's still going on. I hate to leave my clan so soon after it came back to life, but it will carry on in my absence- I am making arrangements for that. And I hate most of all to leave in the middle of two games I am GMing, but I will be sending all the data for those games to Al, and I am hoping he can find a replacement for me. I'd do it myself but I may not have the time, honestly.
Not much else to say....I'm going to miss WOK, but if there is one thing I learned in life, it is important for you do do what makes you happy. I am young, single, and free to do whatever I wish at this point, and I fully intend to make the most of it. Enjoy all the VPs you guys are earning while I am gone- I'll be back to claim my fair share again one day!!!!
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