Two Years Along....

 

 

Two years ago on this date - August 7th - at around 0530hrs Central Standard Time I arrived in Hays, KS with the items you see above in my possession. 

I had just spent roughly 36 hours onboard various Greyhound buses coming cross country from just outside of NYC, where I had spent the summer working a gig following my graduation from graduate school. I didn't have a personal vehicle. And I didn't yet have housing.

But I did have a job. 

A tenure track position, which was slated to start orientation the next day - August 8th.

Hays, being a bit of a smaller community, has its Greyhound location included in a convenience / service station near the interstate rather than an actual station. Fortunately there was/is an on demand bus system that serves the community and that starts its daily service around 0600hrs. So I hung out at the station for a bit and then caught a ride to campus, since I at least knew where my office was going to be...and where I had also shipped a few of my other belongings that were "mission critical" for the start of the semester. The rest of my accumulated possessions were still in rented storage in Gainesville.

 

I admit that I was a bit surprised, though happy, to find the front door to the building unlocked when I got there, even with the earliness of the hour (~0700hrs or so). Gathering all my stuff I found my designated office and stacked things near it, hoping it would be generally secure since classes and the semester had yet to start.

After a couple of hours I was able to connect with the interim department chair and get access to my office and to the things that I had shipped myself....Looking back on it - and as seen in the photos below - my office seemed so very, very barren.

Even so....I was here.

And now?

It has been an interesting two years. 

Six total semesters - two full academic years and I've also taught over both Summer sessions, including teaching sections of one of my courses for students in China. Those sections were a full semester of coursework compressed into a five week time-frame. Admittedly, the China courses were online rather than face to face, but that is more to be blamed on the pandemic than anything else. 

Yeah...the pandemic. Teaching courses via Zoom, or in a hybrid format has taught me a great deal about how I teach. And perhaps helped focus my instincts / desires about serving underserved communities that was a part of what started me on this journey into academia.

Two years. 

In theory, one third of the way through my tenure path. In practice, closer to half, since I had to submit a tenure packet my first semester here. And my next one - packet #3 out of 6 - is due in just 18 days (August 25th, 2021).

Two years. And realizing in less time than that that most published textbooks really don't serve the needs / concepts for one of my courses. So I am writing my own OER textbook for it.

Two years. Years that have helped me realize that all the prior years of my life where I have - as some folks have described it (some politely, others less so) - "lived in my own head" might just obliquely be considered to be preparation for being an academician.

A great many things in my past taught me useful skills for this gig. 

I did find housing. It took me about a week. I still do not own a personal motor vehicle. However, it is only 1.8 miles each way from my house to my office. And I have a bicycle. And feet.

I am well aware of my various debts. I still have a great many individuals to thank, and to repay - both figuratively and practically. Working on those things too.

I seem to be rambling....which means that it is time for me to get back to work. While it might be a Saturday there are still things to do, tasks to accomplish.

Hopefully I will be better again about posting here, even if the blog name might no longer be a reasonable description of things. And admittedly I do spend more time on other media now: Twitter, the occasional Instagram, etc. Perhaps blogging is declasse now-a-days. Even so, sometimes the long form is required. Especially when ones past superhero nickname has been "Verbose Boy".

More later.

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