While I am a single parent, tonight I was reminded that my academic family helped raise my daughter.
From the colleagues who took her shopping for prom dresses to the friends that laughed with her through dinner to her aunties who texted her encouragement when school seemed dire, I so appreciate that my academic family loves her as much as I do.
I should not need reminding, because loving to help young people is an essential part of academic life.
It is easy to forget that professors have two missions - research and teaching.
Research is the selfish part - people lionize the well-published!
Teaching is the unselfish part - no one knows about the kids that you helped grow up!
While harder to quantify, the BEST academics love the kids - and more professors love the kids than do not!
When I see my academic friends with my teen, I am reminded of the love they share for children and reminded that how they treat my teen is an indicator of how they treat their students (kids!).
My academic friends are spectacular with kids.
The thing is, an astonishing number of faculty care about the well-being of our kids, something the critics of academe don’t seem to get.
All of us (academics) are part of communities that help kids navigate the path to becoming adults.
As we enter the final weeks of spring semester, ask youself, how have I helped the kids grow this year?
And if you can’t identify anything, then shift what you are doing and focus more on students.
While I love writing papers, the real satisfaction is partnering with my colleagues to touch kids’ lives! And helping kids find the path to adulthood!
I am grateful to Silvia Masiero and Aleksi Aaltonen for reminding me of that!
#teaching#students#mentoring#academiclife#academics#singleparent#community#temple#foxschool#grateful
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