Category — Teaching

Monday begins a new school year. For those of us in academia, our calendars run September to May rather than January through December. June and July don’t really exist, and August is a blur because we are so busy preparing for the new term. I love the first day of school. The weather is starting to turn, I get to meet a bunch of new students who are ready to begin their 4-year journey through college, and I get to try out a few of the hairbrain ideas I’ve come up with during the summer. My goal for this year is to really, honestly, try to enjoy my job as much as I can. Not that I haven’t in years past, but this year I don’t have the spectre of Tenure hanging over me. My tenure application is done and is starting to work its way through the official channels. There is nothing more to add. I’ve made my case and I’m at total peace with it. Not to sound too cocky, but I don’t really expect anything except a positive outcome. Now receving tenure doesn’t mean that I stop trying to do better. Quite the contrary. It just means that I can do my job without having to justify what I’m doing. I don’t need to keep track of everything that I do, and I don’t need to do more stuff just to make my tenure binder thicker. This year I’m just going to focus on my students. I’m going to put every ounce of effort into reaching as many as I can. I want my senior research students to have a great experience. I want my freshmen to see how exciting (yes exciting) chemistry is. I want my organic lab students to really do well and not think organic chemistry is a miserable experience like I did. Yes, this is going to be a great year. I am still praying that “Joe” can graduate this year too. So put on your party hat, grab some noisemakers, get the confetti ready, and be ready to kiss the one you love come midnight. Happy New Year!!!

Most people view January 1st as a time to start fresh, make a New Year’s resolution and forget about the mistakes of the past. As an academic, I tend to view the start of a new academic year as the time to wipe the slate clean. I love this time of year; the weather is not too hot and not to cold. Football season is just around the corner (this will be the year of the Titans by the way), and a new cohort of students have a arrived on campus. Just like most of my students, I look back on the previous semester and think that I was too disorganized, didn’t get everything I wanted done, and didn’t perform as well as I wanted to. And just like most of my students I say “things are going to be different this semester.” This will be the semester I’m going to:
*be two weeks ahead in all of my classes
*come up with brilliant demonstrations to wow my students
*effectively manage my 4 senior research students and get enough results so that I can write a publication with each one.
*really make connections with some of my students and truly be a mentor to them.
*not get bogged down with grading lab reports.
…and the list goes on and on. They say good intentions pave the way to you know where, but I guess it never hurts to try. I did have a good first day. I am two weeks ahead in my classes. My desk is clean heading into day two. So we shall see how long my two-week cushion lasts. I have a new teaching project I want to start this year, I have some interesting projects planned for my upper-level lab, and I am confident my seniors will work hard on their research. I’ve been really blessed to have the position I have. I never dread going in to work, my colleagues are my friends, and my students always motivate me to be a better professor. Who knows, maybe this WILL be the semester where I realize near Jedi-like teaching abilities, publish a paper or two, and keep my inbox clean. It never hurts to dream.