I realized today that I have been a teacher for 30 consecutive years now.
I started as a graduate student as the teacher of record in my classes at Sam Houston State, Abilene Christian, and Purdue; worked solely as a homeschooling teacher for fourteen of those years; and have taught as an adjunct, a full-time adjunct, a full-time instructor, a professor, and an assistant professor at five colleges and universities. That is a wide variety of experiences.
Had we stayed here, instead of leaving, I would be a full professor now, one of the senior members of the department, with 25 years (though only 15 since my PhD, so maybe I would only be barely professor-ed). That was not a viable choice at the time and it sometimes amazes me that it is a viable choice now.
This is my fifth year back at my university as a full-time teacher. I am going up for tenure and promotion soon.
It is an amazing experience to look back over an academic career that spans so many schools, years, and levels of education.
I am grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to teach and hopefully I can keep teaching for the next 30 years.