I know y'all are enamored of your big sisters over there at the Cramp-icle of Higher Education, but a very recent "First Person" article has just proven to me again what whiners there are coming into the profession.Three second year proffies have found that the honeymoon is over and that there's WORK to be done. Poor bunnies. Here are some relevant and revealing quotes:
- In my second year on the tenure track, I am finding that I am less and less excited about it all...it's not easy to just sit back and bask in the glow of being a professor anymore.
- What I once fondly viewed as a beautiful lifestyle and culture has become a long list of tasks, failures, and accomplishments.
- I spend my time sitting in committee meetings, grading endless papers, and navigating the political and social terrain of the university. Is the glow gone?
- Through the chaos of learning a new job, moving across the country, and finding a new home, I realize now, I lost part of my self, the part of me that loves education.
- As we move through our second year, we are finding that the rigors of the professoriate are beginning to weigh heavily.
Oh dear, and it's only year 2. If this is indicative of second year proffies around the country, I have a feeling the job market is going to open a lot wider when these puffs start to fall by the wayside.
Seriously, are we preparing grad students so poorly that THIS is what we get? "Ohhh, it's so hard."
