NMDS Archive: Hindsight: What You Can Learn from My First Year, Part II (2015 Edition)

Editor's Note: On Friday, we'll hold the final event in this year's New Member Discussion Series program, titled “The Art of the A-Form: What You Can Learn from My First Promotion Cycle” (Mildred Green Room, Babylon Student Center, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.). I hope to see many of you at this event; while this event doesn't aim to replace the Promotion Workshop in terms of information and resources, I believe it will help dispell fears and myths surrounding the promotion process by providing useful anecdotes from newly promoted faculty. (ALSO: Stay around the Mildred Green Room from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. for The Write Time -- our final attempt to set aside time for scholarship before finals arrive!)

Last semester, we began the New Member Discussion series with an event titled, "Hindsight: What You Can Learn from My First Year."  The following is Jill Malik's paper on the topic.

See you soon! 

-- SKG

Hindsight: What You Can Learn from My First Year

by Jill Malik, Instructor, Social Science

Thank you to Sarah Gutowski for inviting me to share my first year experience at Suffolk County Community College (SCCC). 

Before starting my first full-time year teaching at SCCC, I was an adjunct at both the Ammerman and Grant campuses. For me, this carried both pros and cons. My biggest “pro” column item was that I felt that I had a fairly decent gauge on the SCCC student population and what our students' specific needs and challenges are. My biggest “con” item was that I underestimated the disparity between a part-time and a full-time teaching load. 

Also, I had little-to-no idea as to what would be expected of me outside of the classroom. I didn’t know how my peers would react to me or how I’d fit into their well-established dynamics. I found myself in meetings where unfamiliar jargon was being thrown around as common, everyday language, leaving me feeling lost, and sometimes embarrassed. 

At times I questioned my own competence, my relative expertise, and my value to the department. Not because of any particular person or event, however; on the contrary, I feel fortunate to work with such intelligent, kind, humorous, and welcoming individuals and to be under the direction of an incredibly supportive Department Chair. Regardless, insecurity seeped in because of the “new-ness” of it all. I’d by lying if I said these feelings were entirely quashed; however, they are fewer-and-further between. I’ll take that as a “win!” 

So, how’d I get to this point? I’ve summarized a few notable moments from my time at SCCC in hopes that it helps your own transition: 

We're almost at the end, people!

You’ve just entered a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself.

Yes, academic burnout is a real thing. When educator responsibilities (e.g., professional development, expectations of student achievement, grading, lesson planning, advising) become overwhelming and chronically stressful, we often experience negative psychological and physical effects.

What can you do about this?

•  Make realistic expectations for yourself and your students.
• Talk to your colleagues if you are planning a new classroom activity or writing assignment. Bounce ideas off of each other to prevent or minimize unrealistic expectations.
•  Realize now that this is an ever-evolving process. What “works” one semester (or even in one section of a class) may not work in another. Be flexible!
• For me, the amount and type of assignments I had used when I was an adjunct for two classes per semester did NOT translate into a realistic full-time-with-overload teaching schedule. My first full-time semester more weeks than not grading over 200 papers each time. As a result, I had many sleepless nights. I pretty much cursed myself, asked myself “what WAS I THINKING?!” countless times, and vowed to never do that to myself again.
• You may feel compelled (or obligated) to join a ton of committees at the start. My suggestion is that you start slow. Make it a goal to join one committee that you are genuinely interested in. Think about it: It’s easier to build and add responsibilities slowly, over time. It’s much harder to make a hundred changes all at once, do a mediocre-at-best job in them because you’re spread too thin, and then try to remove yourself from committees later on. Remember – marathon, not a sprint.

Jill Malik speaks to new faculty in September

• Take time for yourself!
  • Put down the phone and step away from the computer. Now go do whatever it is that you enjoy – Perhaps it’s binge-watching your favorite television series, reading a good book, going to the gym or for a long run, yoga/meditation, or immersing yourself in a hobby. Don’t sacrifice, or underestimate, the importance of self-care. Self-care promotes a healthy state of mind and reduces chronic (long-term, “bad”) stress. 
   
• Make time for family and friends!
  • Whether you’re a long island native or just moved here, your friends and family are your constant in a time when you’ve just embarked on your new employment journey. Lean on them if you need. Talk to them about how things are going. 
  • You have just joined the SCCC family, and that means you are meeting lots of new people, navigating coworker personalities, and seeing where exactly you fit in.  Likely, this excites some and terrifies others. Whatever end of the spectrum you are on, the people that have known you before this job are your constant in your recently-transitioning world.  
   

You are embarking on a new journey here at SCCC, use that to your advantage. 

• A few weeks before I was hired full-time at SCCC, I had gone through some major life changes. I mean, pretty much a complete life overhaul. For me, that felt both exhilarating and anxiety-provoking. I decided to focus on the former --- make new connections, meet lots of people, network, mentor students, and wipe the slate clean. However, I probably overdid it at times – immersed myself TOO much into these tasks, and lost a little balance in the other activities in life that I cherish. So, it’s taken me time to find that work-life balance, but I think that’s normal – and also ever-changing as our work and life-demands rarely stay stagnant. So, be flexible and be honest with yourself as to what your own needs are. 

There are very few times in life that we get to have fresh starts --- this is one of them. 

• Take what you’ve learned at your previous jobs, coworkers, mentors, institutions, schooling, etc. and use the best of those practices. But, also, leave any garbage behind.  
• Your expertise is valuable. Often, once we have spent a long time either studying or mastering an area of interest, we don’t view our own knowledge and mastery as any special. The shine has worn off – we may assume others know it too. 
• For example, my second semester I participated in a Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) workshop at the Grant campus. Before being approached by the TLC coordinator, I had no idea my experience and knowledge in Microsoft Excel could also serve as valuable tool for others (again, assumed that what I had learned years prior was “common knowledge”). Participating in the TLC was also a great way for meet to other individuals on campus as well as to feel like a useful asset to the Campus community. 

 Embrace the amazing opportunities ahead. 

• For many of us, change is a scary thing. Learning a new task can feel daunting and overwhelming. Avoidance creeps in.  
• Remember – you aren’t expected to know everything on day one (or, possibly ever)! Immerse yourself in new tasks and learn from mistakes. Be honest with yourself and with others about your strengths and weaknesses and keep evolving and pushing ahead. 
• Ask questions. Observe other faculty members. My first semester I participated as peer classroom observer. I also asked this same coworker to observe my teaching alongside my department chair. Giving and receiving feedback was such a positive experience for the growth of my own pedagogical instruction. 

 Own it. 

• At first blush, my last piece of advice seems simplistic. And, in some ways it is. However, in many other ways, this one is a forever work-in-progress.

As noted above, there will be lots of opportunities that come your way. What excites you? Likely, there’s some student club and/or campus committee that you could advise that will match your interest. 

• Last year I became the advisor of the Social Science Club. Advising a club frightened me – I didn’t know ANY school policy, any of the current students, and I made many mistakes (and thank the staff at the Office of Campus Activities for their patience with me!) Some of my most rewarding student experiences were through this advising/mentoring process. Being their club advisor has allowed me to help create on-campus and off-campus activities for our students. I spent many of my “own” hours reaching out to members of the community to create partnerships and future opportunities for the club. Although the procedural club advisor stuff scared me, I owned it and I did the best job I could for the students. I found that because I was interested in the activities and events taking this extra time wasn’t a burden. Rather, it was something I enjoyed. And seeing the students’ positive reactions, 

Make a conscious effort to think about your main goals as an educator. 

• What are your main goals in the classroom? What are your obligations to students? What are their obligations as students in your classroom? 
• If you have clear answers to these questions, it will help govern your first year and beyond. Own what these are. Your answers may differ from your colleague’s and that’s okay! What one professor may view as “hand holding” another may view as “necessary.” 
• It is probably good practice to reflect on these questions ever semester, or every year. They may change over time, and if so, own it…and then modify your teaching strategies to fit your and your students’ needs.

Again, welcome to SCCC! I hope you’ve found some of my ramblings helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me!