Now that the announcements has been made of who has earned the title Professor Emeritus at my college, I have to admit I am disappointed that one of them is not me. I knew it wouldn’t be; even if simply that it requires 15 years of service, and I only have 14 years in. I guess I was dreaming that someone would write a heartfelt letter that I was responsible for the accreditation of our department, and for the work I did with students. It was a dream; and as we all know, many dreams never come true.
Yet, as I feel disappointment, I am proud of the work I’ve done on behalf of those students. A constant devotion and time spent in one to one meetings, negotiating deadlines because I knew they could do it, but with a pregnancy and another young child, a single mom sometimes just can’t make that deadline for that assignment. The stories of these students trying to better their lives is endless. I know I’ve made a difference.
In the end, it is my own heart and soul that reward me for my life’s work. Like gramma said, “It’s water off a duck’s back, honey. And you’d rather be dry anyways.”
ProfSharon // Jun 6, 2017 at 1:07 pm
Guess what, I did get “Sharon Roth, an education professor, received the Robert Mugar Yacubian distinguished service award.”
See: http://www.gazettenet.com/Archives/2014/05/GCCGRAD-HG-060214.aspx