A Confession*
profgrrrrl has a post about a terrible grad student she has to advise. No, she doesn't use the word terrible, but I would. And I feel okay doing so, because... well, if my adviser were female, and if I hadn't stuck with the one advisor, and if I hadn't stayed on the same project that I used for my masters... Well, I'm a terrible grad student. Equally problematic -- wasteful of valuable advising time -- as this student of pg's sounds, while not feeling nearly so entitled. (E.g. I don't think I'm brilliant; on the other hand, maybe I come across as thinking so.) I have to get moving. There's only so much time available to graduate students, and I'm getting much too close to the end.
So recently, while procrastinating, I've had a legitimate reason (e.g. not blog-writing): I've been prepping for my first class. I'm a fellowship student, see, and I've never had to teach a class before, not even in the extrodinarily remote sense of running scantrons through the correction machine. Why is this a good thing? Well, because I'm not a big fan of research, it turns out. I thought I was, but it's not my cup of tea; I don't constantly have new thoughts & questions, a la profgrrrrl (whose research plan impresses the hell out of me), or... well, probably, any of you. And now I've been teaching for a couple/few weeks.
Here's my confession.
I love teaching.
I adore it.
*Sigh* I am so being kicked out of academia for this, aren't I.
******************
*I wonder how many blog posts are titled this?
So recently, while procrastinating, I've had a legitimate reason (e.g. not blog-writing): I've been prepping for my first class. I'm a fellowship student, see, and I've never had to teach a class before, not even in the extrodinarily remote sense of running scantrons through the correction machine. Why is this a good thing? Well, because I'm not a big fan of research, it turns out. I thought I was, but it's not my cup of tea; I don't constantly have new thoughts & questions, a la profgrrrrl (whose research plan impresses the hell out of me), or... well, probably, any of you. And now I've been teaching for a couple/few weeks.
Here's my confession.
I love teaching.
I adore it.
*Sigh* I am so being kicked out of academia for this, aren't I.
******************
*I wonder how many blog posts are titled this?
posted by ceresina at 2:47 PM
1 Comments:
This is so strange to me, because I feel like I should be kicked out for having no interest in teaching. I adore the research aspect - finally feel comfortable doing it after years of being painfully unsure of myself. But teaching? Sounds hard to me. After years of being a student, I can say with all confidence that people who love teaching and are good at it are brilliant beyond my comprehension. I therefore think you're amazing and cool. I hope your class continues to go really well!
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