Truth or Dare
"I always knew I'd teach when I got too old and ugly to be on TV," is how Amy Atkins joked about her decision to go into teaching to the Communicator, the magazine of the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
Looking for inspiration, I checked out Mike Cavender's article, "From Classroom to Newsroom," in the February issue. True, I did get some rah-rahs for journalists-who-would-be-professors. Like the thrill ex-newsjocks get from working with people who can still be molded and shaped. But Cavender expounds on many of the pitfalls:
--The rat race to achieve tenure track.
--Pay so low that he urges you to think about a second job.
--Open hostility between the haves -- those who flaunt PhDs or master's degrees -- and the have-nots -- those who enter academia via the newsroom.
We'll see.
--Posted by Jon, the rookie professor, about to sell my house.
Anticipation
Here's something to think about: Money magazine ranks "College Professor" as No. 2 in its list of 50 Best Jobs in the U.S. Kind of hard to believe, no?
Why? The main reason is the "professors have near total flexibility in their schedules" and "creative thinking is the coin of the realm."
On the downside: "The tick-tick-tick of the tenure clock" and "grading papers." Plus low starting pay.
The job gets a "B" grade for stress; "A" for flexibility; "A" for creativity and "C" for ease of entry (i.e., most jobs require a Master's, a professional degree or a Ph.D.)
Money stresses that college enrollments are rising, thus demand for professors will grow.
What's No. 1 you ask? Software Engineer, probably because of high projected job growth over the next decade.
You choose: College Professor or Software Engineer!
See for yourself:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/--posted by Jon, the rookie professor, still in New York
Care Package
As a goodbye gift, my New York colleagues have given me a boxful of gifts to prepare me for campus life. They called it an "academic survival kit" or "prof in-a-box." It includes:
--Sunglasses and sunscreen for outdoor seminars on unbearably beautiful California days.
--The Worst Case Scenario cardgame.
--A School Bell to bring class to order.
--A Little Extra Cash (play money) to supplement that generous professorial salary.
--Stickers for brown-nosing students.
--A Red Medicine Bundle to keep the good spirits in the classroom.
I wonder which one of these I'll need first? I've got six bucks left on my NY subway pass.
--posted by Jon, the rookie professor, still in New York
Trepidation
I'm a recovering journalist who's going to become an instant college professor. In a matter of weeks, I have to sell my house on the East Coast, pack my things, fly across country with my wife and an elderly cat, and start teaching journalism at San Francisco State University. Believe me, I'm in a rush.
I've had some teaching experience more than a decade ago, so this is not totally new to me. (I can explain more about later. ) This time, however, it's a full-fledged professional conversion.
I'm excited. A recent national magazine reported that "college professor" rates as the No. 2 top job in the nation. But I'm also a tad scared. How would you feel? Can we talk? More, later.
--Posted by Jon, the rookie professor, in New York
