The Working Poor in Academia

My office mate’s eyes light up when he begins talking about a new approach he’s just tried with his college students that worked really well. He clearly loves what he does, and he’s endlessly curious about how he can do his job even better. 

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College and Class, Part 2

Some months ago, I wrote about the differences between my college experience as an upper middle class kid at an Ivy League college and the  more challenging experience of my commuter university students,

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Confessions of a Workaholic

Last weekend, I spent all day Saturday reviewing and commenting on my students’ first drafts of their memoirs, as well as working on Sunday’s comprehensive sexuality education

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Can’t Not Look

Eager to get to the university on one of my teaching days, I left the house early—only to find myself sitting in stalled traffic on the interstate for 45 minutes. Sirens screamed, and ambulances roared by. 

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Thinking About Peyton

Okay, so I don’t have his millions—of dollars, of fans, of accolades. But the other day, when the great quarterback Peyton Manning made it official and tearfully announced his retirement after eighteen seasons, all I could think was, “I feel your pain.” The number eighteen is familiar to me. It’s the number of seasons I…

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