posted 2007/09/18 at 17:03
I believe that in the seven years or so that the .org has been in existence, this is the first time I'm updating it from another state. I had some free time before teaching up here at work in Michigan, so I decided to come to the faculty lounge and take care of some business on the one computer they have up here. At least the college doesn't schedule classes during this time, so things here are kind of quiet; I like that I'm able to get a good parking spot every time I come up here, although I think that in future semesters I'll probably want to teach earlier in the afternoon, since that would fit to my schedule a lot better. The air-conditioning in here is also nice, although I won't have a problem when it comes time to teach since I teach in the basement of this building, which is always cool. (I'm not so sure that will be so nice once the cold temperatures hit, though, and I don't get any cell phone reception here.)
One of the great ironies for me was that when I visited this room the first time I came up here, there was a poster right above the computer monitor here for a Website for professional adjuncts run by Houghton Mifflin, one of the big textbook publishers. I went back home that evening intending to go on the Website and scour its resources, but when I tried loading the Website up I got a nice big 404 error. You know, if you're going to reserve a domain name for a Website, the least you could do, even if you decide to totally delete the content, is to put something up other than a 404 page. 404 pages reek of carelessness, and although I don't expect high standards from all the big companies, this act in particular just seems to be totally unprofessional. Then again, maybe I'm only thinking that because it's affecting content that would be of great use to me.
I've enjoyed teaching here so far, but I'm not going to deny having some thoughts about continuing my education here soon, either in terms of pursuing an MFA in creative writing or a Ph.D. in rhetoric. Even though I don't think I was ever that close to any of my fellow MA students at UT, I still find myself missing the camraderie of being in the student body. Given the tiring life of adjuncts, I don't think I can look for an approximation of that with my fellow teachers, either. More than anything, I wonder if I may be cheating myself by not at least trying to get another degree given that I probably could get one, but at the same time I keep asking myself whether the degree will have any use for me or not. I don't want to get another degree just for the sake of getting another degree, if that makes any sense. I still have a lot of options open to me here in my professional life, and with each passing day that seems to be more of a curse than a blessing.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon