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With only a few weeks of the fall semester behind me, I already found myself slipping into the dull monotony of teaching. Covering the same material, with few exceptions, fielding the same questions, struggling to engage the same disinterested students, all while pushing towards a permanent place in a department I wasn't sure I had the passion for.
I was good at it. I'd always been good at faking it. I would be a relatively successful academic, with just the right amount of publications, and just the right amount of students who continue on to more lofty ambitions, and just the right amount of respect among my peers. Once, just the right amount was all I'd ever aspired to.
Now, I couldn't help the feeling that I should be reaching for more.
Sitting in a chair by the window at the shop, I thumbed through a volume Socratic philosophy, in need of a brush up. After a while, the words began to blur, and with a sigh, I tossed it aside. I rose to my feet just as the bell above the door chimed, and I glanced up, smiling at the familiar face.
"Hey."
I was good at it. I'd always been good at faking it. I would be a relatively successful academic, with just the right amount of publications, and just the right amount of students who continue on to more lofty ambitions, and just the right amount of respect among my peers. Once, just the right amount was all I'd ever aspired to.
Now, I couldn't help the feeling that I should be reaching for more.
Sitting in a chair by the window at the shop, I thumbed through a volume Socratic philosophy, in need of a brush up. After a while, the words began to blur, and with a sigh, I tossed it aside. I rose to my feet just as the bell above the door chimed, and I glanced up, smiling at the familiar face.
"Hey."
