Tomorrow is the first day of the classes and the semester at the University of Louisville. I have to say, this summer has been a summer of a lot of firsts for me. First time speaking as a Game Changer in the field of PR. First time recording and creating a lesson for a certification for HubSpot. First time being an aunt (yay!), and of course the first time launching my solo new social media textbook.
Each term, I note how many years I have been teaching, and I realized this time – I am starting my 10th year teaching.
I have to say, that came up pretty quick!
I remember where I was when I first was told I was going to start teaching at the University of Tennessee. I knew I was going to teach during the time I was a doctoral student, but I didn’t realize how quickly I was going to do it. In 2008, I had just finished my first year as a doctoral student. My CV was only about a page and a half with three conferences, which I did my first year. One was one at UT, the other was IPRRC, and I had my very first international presentation in Beijing for the Reputation Institute.
Fall 2008 was – to this day – my hardest semester as far as course work and graduate assistantship duties went. I had my three hardest classes to take that semester (PR management, Marketing Theory, and Consumer Behavior). Along with these classes, I was a TA for three classes (one for a professional development class, and two Intro to Communication lecture classes), a research assistant, and helped out with UT’s biannual event for the ADPR department. This was also the semester where I fully embraced coffee as my drink of choice (which you can understand!).
Yet, I got a chance to learn some valuable lessons during this term which helped me prepare for what I am doing now, 10 years later. As we enter the eve of the start of my 10th year teaching. Here are 10 lessons I have learned.
Teaching is a learning process. I remember thinking when I first started teaching I’d be “all-knowing” about how to teach down the road. I laugh now because I’m still learning new things and what I can do better now. It’s a learning process and it’s important to continue expanding your horizon and learn new things.
Being different is powerful. I know many young professors entering the field are sometimes afraid of “being different” or going against the expectations of what it means to be a professor. Trust me, I understand how this feels. Yet, I can tell you, being able to be different from others is very powerful. In a good way, being able to separate the experience, lessons, and activities you can offer in a class does separate yourself from others.
Embrace the modern day professor. I realized in my early years of teaching at UT, if I just did research/teaching/service – I would only get so far. I realized I needed to go and expand what I was able to do as a professor to be marketable as well as provide some new perspectives in my classes. That’s why I added online teaching, consulting, and contributions to blogs and media to the list of things to do. Back in 2008 – this was unheard of for the most part. Now, it’s an expectation from the industry. Always look at what is happening in the industry and see how you can invest in yourself. Which leads to my next point.
Investing in yourself is absolutely necessary. As I mentioned before, I only had three conference papers in 2008 and my CV was just over a page and a half. Now, my CV is 27 pages long with almost 30 publications and numerous international conferences.
How did this happen? I set a goal for myself to work on increasing my publications, conference submissions, and exposure each year (similar to what I did as a track and field athlete with marks). Each year had new goals and achievements to be met. Set goals for what you want to accomplish (ex. journal publications, projects, etc) and keep track of these on a regular basis. Have a buddy system in place where you check in on each other.
Also, investing in yourself also means taking a break FROM your work. That’s a key thing I learned over the years as well – there are times where doing something other than work is critical. For me, this was exercise. To this day, I have to do something active and this makes taking exercise classes a blessing since I am able to schedule this. This was a practice I started 10 years ago, and it has been working for me ever since. It’s key to have a balance in your life!
Listen to your gut. There are a lot of rules that seem to float around in academia, and they seem to get the attention of young professors. Like, you can’t integrate social media into your classes. Spending too much time on social media won’t help you for tenure. If I listened to these rules, I would not be where I am today. I am very thankful for investing the time and energy in social media – it has been one of the best decisions I could have made.
Find your own professor voice. This was a key lesson for me. While at UT, I tried in my first classes to be like the other professors in their classroom behavior and interactions with the students. I soon realized this was not for me – I wanted to be comfortable and approach students in a more authentic and natural way. I was able to do this when I arrived at UofL – and the rest is history. Be comfortable with who you are as an educator with your students. Every professor is unique and offers something special to their classes.
Students will always be entertaining. You may think you have seen it all, but wait. There’s always something new and different coming up from each class. Each class has a personality to it, and there can be a range of things that could happen that make you think – wow, did that just happen? I tell my students they keep me young at heart. You never know what may come up, but if you keep an open mind and listen – things will all work out.
Experimentation is necessary to be able to learn what works and what doesn’t. The message we seem to get is to be strict on the process of how to teach a certain class, etc. But – how does that apply to social media? You dow want to have some key fundamental learning objectives and practices that align with what the department and college focus on – but there has to be room to explore new trends, projects, and certifications.
Don’t be afraid to fail. We are all human. There have been many assignments and lessons I felt would be amazing, but they did not work out. There have been assignments that have literally crashed and burned. Yet – I was able to learn from them and make sure to adjust. It’s also key to be able to share these lessons with others. Be willing to let people know what happened and what you were able to take away from the experience. It can lead to many more amazing opportunities. It’s key to have high standards, but we also have to recognize not everything is going to work out. We have to learn from the experiences.
Being a professor is still hands down the best profession. I can say – being a professor and teaching for 10 years – has been the best decision. Over the last 10 years, while teaching, I had to go through my comprehensive exams (those were fun!), dissertation (aka a really, REALLY big paper), publications and rejections, and the tenure process – and with all of these things – I am still very thankful to be where I am today as a professor.
I love my role and job, and what I am able to do not just for my colleagues and fellow professors – but for my students. I have had the chance to have some incredible students in person and online over the years. The ability to have an impact and help others is truly rewarding. I am still in touch with many of my students who were in my first classes, and it’s been fun to see where they have ended up in their careers and professions. It makes me proud to see them succeed – and it has been an honor to be part of their journey.
I wish everyone a wonderful and amazing start to their semester!
Best Wishes,
