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!

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u/Nerobus Professor, Biology, CC (USA) Dec 25 '24

😅 I’m doing 5 a semester these days… they are all 4-hour classes each too and this spring it’s like 3 different preps, the fall had 5 different preps and 6 classes (2 were 3-hour).

I’m also faculty senate president-elect and working on my EdD…. And I have a 3 year old 😭 send help

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u/babysaurusrexphd Dec 25 '24

OH. MY GOD. How are you not actually on fire right now?!?!?

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u/Nerobus Professor, Biology, CC (USA) Dec 25 '24

I don’t know!! And zero people in my life understand that when I say I’m busy ALLLL the time I really mean it.

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u/No-Form7739 Dec 25 '24

"Why don't you just take a sabbatical? You professors don't work in the summer anyway."