Academics complain a lot. Actually, I don't know that academics complain more than people in other occupations but maybe it just seems to me like we complain a lot, considering most of us purport to love our jobs. So in honor in November being the month of giving thanks, I thought I'd take a minute to list a few things that I really do love about my job...
- Students who tell me that they really enjoy my class and/or ask if I teach any other classes they can take (and when this is in my 500-seater, they know I have no idea who they are)
- Students who tell me they decided to become an econ major after taking my class
- Students who say the things to their classmates, when those classmates are being boneheads, that I wish I could say but obviously can't (like when someone asks the same question for the fifth time and someone else gives the answer with a 'Geez, dude, she said that, like, four times already')
- Students who actually say my name correctly
- Having students recognize me on campus and say hi
- Colleagues who offer to do service without acting like they are doing everyone a big favor
- Colleagues who send me links to articles they saw that are in my field, with a note that says, "Not sure if you saw this but it seems like it's up your alley and I was wondering what you thought"
- The people who find out that I'm an econ professor and say, "Oh, that's cool, I always thought econ was so interesting when I was in college" (OK, so that's only happened once but I still hold out hope)
- Not having a 'boss' telling me what to do
- Being able to run errands on weekdays
Being able to explore things that I became interested in only lately.
ReplyDeleteDiscovering things that students want to explore in more detail, after a course has ended, and so we design a research project/course together.
I believe that sharing knowledge is one of the greatest thing one man can do for another. Although teach might not have its financial advantages it sure is a job with a satisfaction
ReplyDeleteThe people who find out that I'm an econ professor and say, "Oh, that's cool, I always thought econ was so interesting when I was in college" (OK, so that's only happened once but I still hold out hope)
ReplyDeleteYup, that happened to me once too. Literally, just once.
Students who tell me they decided to become an econ major after taking my class
Even better in some ways: finding out that a former student, a chem major, after graduating had gone to econ grad school and become an econ prof. I only had the student in intro, so I can't claim credit but still I can feel that I had some influence.