Back in front again
My reason for retiring from my university teaching job didn’t have anything to do with the students. With only a few exceptions over my many years of teaching, I loved the students.
It also didn’t have anything to do with the actual teaching. I loved be - ing in front of a class, discussing the subject matter, engaging with students, seeing students grasping the material, trying to make students laugh at my bad jokes.
I didn’t even mind correcting the endless papers turned in for gr ading. Yes, it could be arduous and tedious, but seeing progress among students from the feedback provid - ed was rewarding.
The reason I left my university teaching job two years ago is I thought I’d done all could on tha t campus. After 26 years, 18 years as a full- time lecturer, I needed a new challenge.
Within a few months, though, I started missing the interactions I’d had with students, staff and fellow faculty members. And I missed be - ing on a university campus. There are three places I’ve always felt most at home: a basketball court, anywhere live music is playing and a university campus.
So when I was approached se veral months ago about teaching an aes - thetics of film and television class at the University of Arizona, a subjec t I love and that I have some knowledge of, I jumped at the chance to get back into a universit y classroom. I soon found out tha t I would be teaching not in a classroom but in something of an amphitheater and that I would have more than
110 students in the course.
I also found out I would ha ve to be dealing with a ne w and a tad more complicated online learning system than the ones I’d used previously, on which the s tudents would be turning in their assignments and on which attendance would be taken. Preparing the course materials for that learning system took many hours, and my neck hurt for the better part of three weeks as a result.
Whatever. It was something I love rekindled in my life, and it was e xciting. And it would be a par t- time job, which meant I wouldn’t have to deal a lot less with the pe tty squabbles and many immense egos I had to survive as a full- time teacher.
I taught my first class in two years on Monday afternoon. It was exhilarating. It was great to be back in front of so man y curious young minds. Many of the students came in with a love for and a knowledg e of the subject matter, which made things even better.
And the student laughed at my bad jokes… or at least most of my bad jokes.
I felt I was m y full self again the second I stepped in front of a class.
“This is where I should be. T his is one the things I’m meant to do,” I thought as I began addressing the class about the syllabus, the subjec t matter and how to be a g ood university student. That feeling of excitement and fulfillment lasted for hours after the class.
I would say it’s great to be back behind the lectern again, but I tend to be moving target while lecturing. I’m a speaker who rarely stays in one place. I once heard a comedian say audiences stay more engaged when the performer is mobile, and I’ve always tried to follow tha t advice as a lecturer.
So yes, I was a bit ph ysically tired after the class, but it was a joyful kind of tired.
Being on a university campus surrounded by students is my happy spot, and I’m overjoyed I’ve been invited back to that special place again.