If it were up to me, the students would only need one book for my writing classes, because I could just give them articles and other handouts in class for additional readings. And I wouldn't assign so many papers in one semester, because that's just more stuff I have to grade.
Whenever I watch TV shows about people in their twenties, I see people traveling around the world, going to parties and clubs, and hanging out with friends at bars or coffeehouses. But because I chose to pursue a career in academia, my twenties could pretty much be summed up like this:
But I don't like being an adjunct instructor. When you work as an adjunct, you're hired on an as-needed basis, which means that you never know how many classes you'll get to teach each year, or if you'll get any classes at all. If the full-time instructors' classes don't fill up, then they get to take the adjuncts' classes. Universities will spend millions of dollars on providing resources for the students and renovating the buildings to attract more students, yet they don't give insurance or benefits to its adjunct instructors.
I thought that once I became a college teacher, I wouldn't have to work minimum wage jobs anymore. But teaching part-time at one school is not enough to pay the bills, so for more than five years I've always had to work two or three jobs at the same time. I usually teach at two schools, and then I work a third job that usually pays minimum wage. It always bothered me that I could get insurance and benefits as a part-time retail associate, but not as an adjunct instructor. Not to mention the pay is not that much better for adjuncts.
Adjuncts have very little say in how the department runs; most of the time, we don't even get to go to the department meetings. We don't get our own offices, either; I taught at one school where one office was shared by more than fifty adjuncts. We had to schedule times when we could use the few desks that were in there, and we had to practically arm-wrestle each other for use of the office computer.
I'm pursuing my Ph.D. so that I can hopefully get a full-time teaching job. Even if I don't get a tenure-track job, I'd be happy having a job where I don't have to scrounge for enough work to pay the bills every month. I'd be happy to be able to just have one job that pays enough to support myself. But I have to admit that I've wanted to drop out of graduate school at least a hundred times.
Grad school is a full-time job, but it doesn't pay enough to live on, which is another reason why I have to work so many jobs. In addition to teaching, I have to work on my dissertation, publish articles in academic journals that are apparently only read by other academics, and present my research at conferences. Grad school is also the reason I can't get a regular full-time job rather than rely on adjunct jobs, because it takes up so much time.
If any of my students were to ask me for advice about an academic career, I wouldn't encourage them to become professors. I wouldn't discourage them, either; if it's what they really wanted to do, then who am I to stop them? But I'd tell them that they have to be prepared to pay a lot of dues. While other people their age are climbing up the corporate ladder or earning enough money to buy houses and travel around the world, they'll still be in school. And even after all those years and all that hard work and effort, there's no guarantee that they'll find a full-time teaching job. No PRESSURE, or anything.
I am a workaholic, and I don't think I'd be happy if I stopped working altogether. I think the fact that I am a workaholic is one reason I've been able to survive academia for this long, because you can't work in this field if you want a job that leaves you with a lot of free time. But sometimes I wish I had chosen a career that didn't make my hair start turning white before I turned thirty.
My husband has his doctorate and I am ABD. Between the two of us, we have six jobs. If the academic job market doesn't turn around in the next two years, we have decided that we're going to drop academia and go work for an insurance company. And we're not joking.
ReplyDeleteI love teaching. I am passionate about teaching. But living like this is getting old as I get older.
It does seem like a difficult situation, especially as you teach AND work other jobs. But it will eventually pay off & you will always encounter "interesting" professors and students so see it as living 1 big work in progress! :)
ReplyDeletei like that "a-ha" moment too!
ReplyDeleteoh wait, you weren't talking about that. haha!
i have to say i really admire you. i have a small idea of how hard a road it is to pursue an career in academia. i always planned to go to graduate school right after getting a bachelors, but my bachelors took longer than four years and i decided there were things i wanted to do (like the things you mentioned other 20 somethings are doing) before going back to school.
well, that "going back to school" thing hasn't panned out for me - yet.
maybe someday, but i think you are really amazing for doing all you do in pursuit of your dream.
I'm one of those college students for one more year. Still there are three more years (at least) of school ahead of me. I'll be blind by the time I finish law school I know haha, and maybe even have a few gray hairs (or at least feel like I deserve them).
ReplyDelete-Delilah
Hi NGS,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about how it gets old. I've considered doing non-academic work if the PhD doesn't work out. I guess it doesn't hurt to have a Plan B.
Hi notesfromnadir,
The interesting professors and students have helped keep me going, because I definitely feel like I've learned a lot from them.
Hi mi,
It is a good idea to take a break between college and grad school, because otherwise it's really easy to get burned out (I definitely did). And thanks for the encouragement! I hope that going back to school works out for you and wish you nothing but the best.
Hi Delilah,
Good luck in law school! I thought about going into law too, especially because I'm so obsessed with crime dramas. :) Wouldn't it be cool to have a boss like Jack McCoy?
I totally understand where you are coming from. I am lucky in that my teaching job actually gives me insurance, but I know there are many that don't (and that sucks!). I know that probably next summer I'll have to pick up an add'l job b/c knowing how things go, I won't have more than 1 class to teach. It's so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThere are def pros and cons to being in academia. I love it when a student actually shows they've learned something or that "aha!" moment that you talked about. It's a tough gig, but right now I can't imagine doing anything else.
You're amazing. Look how much you do. Being an adjunct is a thankless job. My husband recommended it to me, but I told him the pay is better with subbing. I didn't know half of how hard it was until I read this post.
ReplyDeleteI, too, spent my 20s looking like the woman in that picture. It's crazy so many of spend these years scraping by. Yet we do it.
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI have thought about doing other things, but actually going out and doing them is another thing altogether. You're lucky you get insurance with your job; I'd be willing to forgo a raise (not that my schools give me one anyway) if I could just get health insurance.
Hi Theresa,
Thank you! It's interesting how so much of what we see on television about people in their 20s is the opposite of that picture. I'd like to see a show that depicts a more realistic version of what being in your twenties is really like.
And I really admire you for your work as substitute teacher, because you are able to adapt to a variety of environments and you've made it work for you.