My mother was asking me how I feel about being an adjunct (in brief: kind of weird! but it pays me lots of money every two weeks!). In general, I feel squidgy about adjuncting. I mean, I don't think anyone gets an advanced degree and thinks 'Yes! I would love to be a semester-to-semester employee with no benefits, no stability, and no power! That sounds great!'
However, in my particular case, I love adjuncting. I don't think I'll love it forever. but for now, it pays ridiculously well for the amount of work I do (very little) and, since this is a small town, involves a five-minute commute. It's not like there's a better part-time job (or any job!) on offer. I'm not thrilled about supporting the university in having 25% of their faculty be part-time, but it's also not my problem. I can be as sarcastic to my students as I want, which is occasionally quite a lot; it's more fun and less work than lecturing.
On the other hand, I am still a little twitchy about being 'the professor's wife who adjuncts'.
The money part does sound nice :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I quite get the "professor's wife who adjuncts" part, but then, in Germany it's more "the professor's wife who's the secretary". There's a well-known TV commercial that starts with "I'm a dentist's wife". Because that gives her authority in toothbrush selection.
I'm really glad this is working out, even in a qualified, temporary way. Because hey, how awesome. It really seemed like you were a bit oppressed by life and that being able to snark at some students is helping.
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