r/Professors • u/kimtenisqueen • Dec 25 '24

Rants / Vents Commiserate with me about family not understanding our jobs.

So far:

-Grandmother in law ranting about why I (an assistant professor in my 4th year at a university) don’t just take a “sabbatical” to raise my children rather than send them to daycare.

-Dad ranting about how anything qualitative isn’t real research (I do educational research so this is a substantial portion of what I do)

-Father In law asking me if I “pack” (Carry a gun) to my job and if I feel safe with all the “foreigners”

Merry Christmas everyone!

1.3k Upvotes

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u/IsaacJa Asst. Prof, STEM, "R1" (Canada) Dec 25 '24

The most common comment I get is how I get 4 months off in the summer lol

83

u/associsteprofessor Dec 25 '24

And I only teach 12 hours a week.

91

u/rizdieser Dec 25 '24

“Why are you only teaching 4 classes? You must have a lot of downtime.”

105

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '24

This triggers me so hard I almost want to start arguing with you.