Friday, March 09, 2007

Notes to Faculty.....

*Don't talk about the state of your marriage or your spouse's mental health issues in front of a whole lot of students in a very loud voice. It makes everyone feel awkward and makes you look like a twit.

*Do develop some empathy. Not everyone has the privilege of attending university. People in difficult circumstances aren't in a blessed position in terms of being politically engaged. Maybe you knew some folks who were worse off than you and were politically active and very happy, but that doesn't mean people who don't have money have the luxury of less social propriety and thus more freedom. Not being able to pay the rent does not equal freedom.

*Do Stop praising each other so blatantly. It makes me want to puke. What happened to being critical?

*Do remember my name even when it's not directly to your benefit. It's not that hard to pronounce, really.

*Don't forget what you felt like as a grad student. Remember when you couldn't get your hands on enough money to go on a research trip? Remember when people rejected your proposals repeatedly? Remember how shitty it felt?

*Do tell me it's worth it. Please. Even if you don't mean it, I just need to hear it sometimes.
doctor T 6:35 p.m.

1 Comments:

Ah. These are some of the tendencies that are making me reconsider this whole "academia" thing.

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