Persistence Pays Off
Hi, everyone. I hope you are enjoying this Labor Day. As the son of a union sawmill worker, this is a day that means a lot to me, but there are two stories that I have to tell you that are very different, so I will tell you these stories in two different blog posts. This is the first.
What Are You Meant to Do?
In everything that I do, I’ve noticed that I tend to do better when I am in a teaching role. With this in mind, over the last year and a half, I have applied for teaching positions four times (three at Temple, one at Palmer). However, I got turned down every time. Even when I’m not in a classroom, I realize that I am at my best when I am teaching. (This is one of the reasons I enjoy writing on this blog so much.) However, I was getting frustrated at my inability to get a teaching job. I have a master’s degree, and I focused on places where I had relationships with the people making the decision. However, I had accepted that I would have to wait another semester and try again.
Putting Yourself Out There
So, you can imagine my surprise when I got a call from the vice chair of the religion department at Temple a week and a half ago. I was told that one of the professors had been overbooked, and he would not be teaching one of the classes he had originally been assigned. When this happens, colleges and universities often consider combining courses in order to accommodate the students, or canceling the course altogether. They couldn’t do either this time, because the class was full. So, she wanted to know if I could fill the teaching slot. I told her I was interested, and she told me it was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There was a pause as she looked for the time the course was offered, and I was thinking, “Please not 9:30, please not 9:30,” because I was already booked for a sociology course at that time. When she said 2:00, I was relieved and said that I could teach the course.
Life as a Teacher
I’ve already taught my first week of courses, and it was everything I wanted and then some as I sought a teaching position as I work toward my Ph.D. The other great thing was that, even though there is competition to get the teaching position, once you get in (especially if you are a last-minute substitution like I was), people really start to help you out. I learned this as several people helped me get my syllabus together and make sure that everything was in place by the time class started. (There are still some things that we are working on with the administrative front, but huge strides are being made.)
One of the other great things about what happened is that I am now part of the union (Temple University’s teaching assistants are the only TA union in Pennsylvania, the Temple University Graduate Students’ Association [TUGSA], which was recognized in 2001 after a four-year struggle.), which means that I will have better pay, half of my tuition paid, and half of the price of my insurance policy (full-time for TA’s is two courses, I am teaching one, so I get half benefits). However, none of this would’ve been possible if I didn’t keep trying. I got the call because I had applied to teach at Temple so many times, and now I am getting my chance to prove myself.
How have you gained when you kept trying something?
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Tags: Labor Day, organization, rights, teaching, unions
This entry was posted on Monday, September 5th, 2011 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Personal Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 6th, 2011 at 1:36 am
Steve the Owl's Blog » Blog Archive » Do Unions Still Matter? says:[...] Work with Steve « Persistence Pays Off [...]
September 19th, 2011 at 6:22 am
Hey Steve,
I can tell you from my personal experience that I’ve tried over and over to accomplish something, get frustrated in the process, but continue to try again and again.
I remember when I had this technophobe thing, the feeling I had was super stressed, anxious, and frustrated.
Every time I felt that frustration coming on I would put the task on hold for about 30 minutes, and then go back to it again. I did this for a couple of days until I finally figured it out.
Persistence definitely pays off!
Thanks for sharing your story with us Steve!
-Jaclyn Castro
Jaclyn Castro´s last [type] ..Command Your Inbox Down to Zero
September 19th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
That’s a great story, Steve and congrats on getting the teaching position you coveted! It is a direct result of you putting yourself out there and being willing to risk rejection, which you did a few times.
A union for TA’s??? Wish I had that when I was in grad school. For us it was like child labor! No benefits and little pay. Could have used a union backing!
Best of luck this semester!
Dr. Bob Clarke´s last [type] ..perfectionism sucks! — my very first totally imperfect blog post
September 20th, 2011 at 7:39 am
Good for you Steve. Perseverance is so important. If you love something just keep going and never quit. This post reminds me of a drawing a friend of mine gave me of a frog with a grass hopper struggling inside its mouth. the caption was never give up. The only time we truly fail is when we quit.
September 26th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Hey Steve,
Persistence always pays off in the end doesn’t it Steve. The problem is that most people will quit before they reach their goal.
A Big Congratulations to you for getting your first teaching assignment, sounds like you’re having a blast! Also want to wish you well on going after your Ph.D., That’s awesome!
Thanks for sharing your inspirational story with us Steve.
Kevin
Kevin DeRoo´s last [type] ..Mentoring an Everlasting Influence
September 26th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Thank you for your reply, Jaclyn! I know what you mean about the technophobe thing. I am not so much cautious of the technology, but my knowledge of the actual working of it is pretty limited. That’s why I am so thankful for all of these plugins that make blogging so much easier! Without it, my site would look pretty plain. I’m glad to hear that you have overcome your issues with technology!
September 26th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Thank you for your reply, Dr. Bob! It is very nice having a union as a TA. This will also help as I move forward and seek a professorship once I have my Ph.D. It took four years to get the union after the threshold was met to get an election (two to recognize the valid signatures, and two more before the school held the vote), and TA’s at Temple are limited to four years, so I am very grateful for those who fought so hard even though they couldn’t actually see the gains that they paved for the rest of us.
You are so right about the willingness to risk rejection. If I would’ve given up after the first, second, and even third try, I know I would’ve never gotten the job, but the vice chair actually told me when she asked me if I wanted the job that it was because she knew that I applied several times, so she wanted to make sure that she could find something for me when it opened up.
September 26th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Thank you for your reply, Anne! I love that poster. I was thinking of the one of the kitty cat holding on to the clothes hanger with the caption, “Hang in there, baby!” I read in a book by Brian Tracy the other day that it takes roughly seven years to truly get good at something, so I will remind myself of this when the going gets tough.
September 26th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Thank you for your reply, Kevin!I am really enjoying my time teaching. There are some head-scratching moments, but there is just something about knowing that you are doing what you are meant to do that makes even the worst days so much better.
September 26th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Steve the Owl's Blog » Blog Archive » Finding Your Balance says:[...] some of my faithful readers may remember, I started my new job teaching Religion in the World at Temple University about a month ago. This is a job that I have [...]
September 27th, 2011 at 5:45 am
Let’s Make An Inspirational Snowball! » Andrew Hallam says:[...] Roughly ten years ago, I sat in a Denny’s diner with Dr. Bob Clarke. He took me out for breakfas…d to remind me to eat my food. I talked and talked and talked. [...]