For me, as an adjunct college professor, the hours are long and the rewards are few.
Lucky for me, I have a husband with a good job and health insurance. So the work as an adjunct means a paycheck to help send my kids to college. Lately, things have taken a turn for worse. We used to be able to teach 15 hours per semester then work as tutors up to 15 hours more. That gave me a nice paycheck.
Blaming the new health care laws, the college is now restricting those hours to 11 teaching hours and no tutoring hours. And, they are counting the teaching hours as double -- 22 hours, even though they are paying us for 11 hours. They say they have to limit part-time workers to a total of 22 hours instead of 30.
Obviously, my salary this year is dropping, but my kids' college payments are going up. I feel like a fraud standing in front of my classes and telling them that education will help them make it in the world. I have a master's degree and I'm still getting the shaft from the system.
But this morning, I got an email from a former student that boosted my spirits a bit. She sent along a photo too.
Nubia was in my English composition class last fall. One of the assignments was to write a paper analyzing an athletic ad. Nubia chose an ad with a stationary bicycle that has a computer screen attached to help the riders envision bicycling in California or the south of France. The next paper, Nubia had to choose a new career or hobby to write about. She decided to investigate what it would take to complete a triathalon. And this photo shows me that she did just that.
I told you that I was going to send you the pictures of me at the end of the triathlon.
I did it. I had fun and Im very proud of myself. It is funny but everything started with the paper from your class :)
12 comments:
Sorry about your cut in hours; that hurts I am sure. Fun photo, and so nice that she sent it to you.
Sounds like your education system has similar problems to our's - here too there are cutbacks at every level. Like you, teachers/professors take great pride in their work, and love to see their students doing well, and to help them on their way in the world, but it's hard when money is tight. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/LAe6cu
This is both a sad and a happy story. You should feel angry about the changes in your hours. What recourse do you have? I hope there is something you can do.
But it is happy to see success with students, isn't it? That's what keeps me going.
Here's my Saturday Snapshot.
That is a shame but at least you know that your efforts are appreciated. don't let it get you down.
There is nothing better than receiving those reminders from your students that you made a difference.
It is challenging to work in the human services professions, whether in teaching, social work, etc. All underpaid for doing a fabulous service to young people.
Enjoy the kudos from your students!
And thanks for visiting my blog.
Thank you for being a great teacher!
Seems very unfair. It is much the same here, teachers are often doing the job for rewards that are not financial.
How nice to impact lives through your teaching. How annoying to have those important skills limited by "budget cuts."
I'm sure your change the life of more than just "some" students. You sound like an amazing inspiration, I hope things get better, for everyone. My son is beginning his master's studies and I only hope he can feed himself and a family someday. He loves what he is doing, and wouldn't it be wrong to do a survival job, when you have other abilities.
I am glad the email came at just the right time!
You are a great teacher. I know from the lessons I've learned from you. I'm so happy that you received the email today.
Keep up the good work - teachers are so important to the world! You have my admiration!
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