It's been a year since I started teaching. A lot of my friends were telling me that they never imagined me being a member of the academe. At some point, neither did I. I've always dreamt of buying a condo unit and dream car by age 25(?). Which at a certain level, I know I won't be able to attain right away from the salary of a college professor. Nevertheless, I opted to try it because of the apparent freedom. The prospect of an 8-5 job for the rest of my life is unacceptable and I can see that staying in one will make me get used to it. My impression from people from my previous job is that they want to get out but they can't because they have limited options. (maybe someday I'll eat(?) my words)
But looking back, I would say that I enjoyed it. Apart from the fact that I can do all the school stuff (reading, preparations, checking, etc.) late at night and waking up very late in the morning, I loved the idea that I am a student again. I had to study most of the topics I taught the previous year and learned a lot. Each preparation also felt like I was investing in something. Why? Because when I taught the same course during the second semester, the effort was almost less than half compared to when I taught the subject the first time. I had time to do other things (well, not really a lot since I had to spend a lot of time for my Masters degree, which by the way is helping me earn some more because of the ERDT scholarship). In terms of finances, I am really very satisfied. On paper, my salary was almost halved when I made the transition from industry to academe. However, due to the additional subjects I taught and other extra sources such as mentoring for competitions(e.g. SMART SWEEP) plus my allowance from ERDT and earnings from our photography business, the sum total was almost the same. Good thing the income from extra subject came at the last month of the school year when my family needed the additional cash. This June, we're opening a store and the extra cash was used to finance the initial rentals, store renovation and some furnitures. I wish the business would take off, so my father won't have to go abroad anymore. I also had some travel opportunities in Malaysia and Bohol last year.
But it's not all fun. At the start, I really had a hard time adjusting to the generation I'm interacting with. First, there's the senior professors who are very mature. They're more inclined on family and/or academic research matters and less of the gimmicks, sports and other similar activities. They no longer talk about women, NBA or facebook.
And then there's the younger students who I would say, are more spontaneous and had a different culture compared to when I was in college. Expressions such as "sabaw", "ultimate FAIL" and "wasak" were very much prevalent. But similar to us when we were in school, they want as light course work as possible.
It was somehow sad since I had no regular company, owing to the fact that I had no really really close friends and the girlfriend (now ex) had a busy work and left for Japan eventually at the start of the second sem. Plus, it was difficult to be-friend students since there's a feeling that there has to be a gap between me and them. Since I am a teacher, they should not see a lot of the lighter side of me. However, I had a change of heart at some point and realized that the times, they are a-changing (ala watchmen soundtrack), and there's no need to put that boundary outside the classroom. So now, I have lots of friends from the fresh graduates and even current students. I even have a basketball team for the AECES sportsfest and go out with them on videoke sessions.
Anyway, the semester is starting again in a few days. I hope it will be more fun and educational for my students. See you in school.
