From Rowan's diary
Juno: I think it's an excellent speech, I'm sure you'll do great!
Gaia: How can you say that, it's so boring!So the day of the seminar arrived. I returned to Britechester in the early afternoon, about one hour earlier than the beginning of my speech, and headed to the entrance of the building that housed the law school classrooms. I was then welcomed by the teachers who had organized that seminar: Professor Jones, who was one of my former teachers back when I was a student myself, and a younger professor whose name I didn't know but who looked vaguely familiar.
Prof. Jones: Welcome, it's a pleasure to have you back here Mr Miller!
???: C'mon, don't you remember me? Yet we were classmates, I'm Jennifer! (Ironic) However, you're probably right to talk to me so formally, everyone now calls me Professor Lewis.
I barely remembered about her, but I didn't comment about it. In any case, that probably explained why I had the impression of having met her somewhere else before.
Prof Jones: I'm so glad you agreed to make this seminar with such short notice, I was starting to think I wouldn't have found anyone for the didactic seminar for this week, and ruin the perfect calendar I had managed to maintain up to this point!
Rowan: ...
Prof Jones: But then, luckily, I received that email suggesting your name at the very last moment, isn't it incredible?
I remained perplexed for a few moments. Wasn't it the professor's idea to call me? But then who could have suggested my name?
Professor Jones didn't seem to notice my expression, however, because he continued with his monologue saying:
Prof Jones: Well, we certainly don't want to keep the students waiting any longer! The seminar will be held in room 153, do you still remember how to get there?
Rowan: Of course, Professor.
So we hurried towards the classroom which was slowly filling up with students for my seminar. When I was still a student myself I had followed many similar events, but being the speaker is a completely different experience. Don't be there to learn, but to convey what I know to those in front of me, put myself in the students' shoes so that they can understand what you are explaining to them as clearly as possible, and answer their questions.
Overall it took about three hours, this required much more energy than I expected, honestly. On the other hand, however, I felt satisfied with what I had managed to do as I hadn't felt for I don't know how long.
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I left the classroom chatting with Professor Lewis, or Jennifer, I'm actually not sure about how I should call her.
Although Professor Jones had taken credit for the seminar, in the end she was the one who organized the event and introduced me to the students.
Jennifer:… Yes, in practice I am an assistant professor, for now I mainly work alongside Professor Jones, but once he finally retires I'm probably taking his place.
Rowan: It sounds like a long apprenticeship, in short.
Jennifer: (ironic) As if your work in a law firm wasn't the same.
Rowan: Touché.
Jennifer: Honestly, today during your seminar you didn't seem very enthusiastic about your current job.
Rowan: Is it that obvious?
Jennifer: I would say so, definitively.
Rowan: Well, objectively I have a pretty uneventful job. The cases that cross my desk are all quite trivial lately, there's not much to get excited about.
Jennifer: Today in class you seemed right in your element instead. Have you ever thought about teaching?
Rowan: A few times I may have thought it doesn't sound too bad... But now I'm too far behind, even if I tried I'm afraid I wouldn't meet the curricular requirements.
Jennifer: I wouldn't be that pessimistic, you know?
Rowan: What do you mean?
Jennifer: You see, the faculty is advertising a few adjunct professor positions to fill a couple of new courses to be opened starting next academic year. Often those who worked outside the academy become university teachers with contracts like those.
Rowan: Oh. I wasn't aware of this.
Jennifer: I suggest you to give a look at those open positions, really.
Rowan: I don't want to waste your time further, but could I ask you another question?
Jennifer: Sure, no problem.
Rowan: Professor Jones earlier said that he decided to contact me after receiving an email suggesting my name. By chance, do you know who the sender was?
Jennifer: (reasoning) Um, let me see... If I remember correctly, Professor Jones forwarded that email to me at some point, so I just need to see if there's a signature, right?
At that point she looked quite curious too, because she promptly took her cell phone out of her pocket and started sifting through the old work emails she had received.
Jennifer: I think I received it about a month ago… Yes, here it is! "Dear professor, blah blah blah… Kind regards, Juno ”. Does it ring any bell?
After reading all this, she raised her head and almost burst out laughing when she saw my expression. I was surprised, the kind of surprise that leaves you with a dumb face and open mouth.
Rowan: I don't even know why I'm surprised...
Jennifer: (amused) Okay, it would seem like you know her. But who would this Juno be, for the record?
Rowan: She's my wife.
Jennifer: (stunned) Wait, what? You're married? Really?
Rowan: (nods) Uh uh.
Jennifer: This really is something I should tell at the next students' reunion, unbelievable... By the way, you should participate sometime too, it's always a lot of fun!
We chatted for a few more minutes. Back in my college days I wouldn't have defined her as more than an acquaintance, but it was still interesting to have someone to talk to about how the situation there at college had evolved after my graduation, about how our old classmates are doing and so on.
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I couldn't talk about it with Juno and Gaia until this morning, it was way too late when I returned back home and they were both deeply asleep by then. We planned to wake up early anyway, it's Harvestfest and we had a lot of preparations to make.
It's a nice coincidence that today it's the day when people show their reconnaissance to those they feel thankful to, as there is definitively someone I want to thank today.
Juno: You seem to be in a good mood, did the seminar go well?
Rowan: Actually yes, very well. I wanted to thank you, by the way.
Juno: What for?
Rowan: I was told it was you who suggested my name for that seminar.
Juno: (surprised) Oh. Well, after you told me that you're not happy with your work, I tried to remember the last time I saw you happy with a project... And then I remembered about those debates back in college, you see?
Rowan: That was a great idea, really.
I hesitated a moment longer, before adding:
Rowan: There's one other thing, actually.
Juno: (curious) Really? What's about?
Rowan: I don't know if this was also part of your plan, but I was told that soon some positions as adjunct professors will be opened to cover a few new courses. I'd been thinking about it all night, actually I didn't sleep much, but anyway... The salary would probably be a bit worse than my current one, but—
Juno: (happy) I didn't know they hired professors, it would be fantastic! I'm sure you'd be a great teacher!
Rowan: So you would agree?
Juno: Do you need to ask it?
She really seemed enthusiastic about the idea, so much so that she kissed me happily without even thinking about it.
Gaia: (from upstairs) Mom, dad, have you already thought about what decorations to put up?
We were interrupted shortly after by Gaia rushing down the stairs like a tornado, bringing us back to the present: it was Harvestfest, the plan for the morning was setting up the decorations and cooking the usual vegetarian turkey.
Gaia: Have you seen how strange the weather is today? It's raining a lot out of nowhere!
Juno: Well, the forecast said "variable weather", perhaps that's what they meant.
Gaia: If you say so...
So we cooked and decorated the house all morning. Unfortunately it continued to rain, but it didn't matter. In any case, winter was approaching, it was too cold to have lunch outdoors.
Nacho: Meow…
We ate a lot together, sharing with the others the reasons why we feel grateful. We had fun, and I think that this time also Gaia wouldn't complain saying she was bored instead.
And I admit that I just can't get that idea out of my head, Juno told me in a whisper that I had an idiotic smile on my face all day. I'm generally not a particularly optimistic person, but the more I think about it the more I become convinced that this could be a real turning point for me. I can't wait to apply for a job at my old university, and even more so to hand in my resignation letter to the boring law firm where I feel like I've already wasted way too much time!
Later that day...
Gaia: For sure today the weather is really weird, what else is happening now?
Gaia: This is really really weird... But very beautiful too!
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§HermioneSims§ corner
What is this, a happy chapter? Really? Can this new career really be a solution for Rowan? To have the answer to these questions, I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the next chapters!
Back to the serious business, today I'm actually here to comment a bit on the events of this chapter. As someone who actually works in academia (more precisely, as someone working in that limbo that is the PostDoc and starting to think that I'll never get a permanent position), I have to say that it is indeed very unlikely to be given the Professor title and teach at university level without a long curriculum in academia to present.
However, this is still The Sims, in this game you can be a surgeon just by choosing the medical career right after high school and putting effort into your job for a few in-game weeks. In comparison, Rowan ending up teaching in college doesn't seem too far stretched for the general setting of this story.
I feel like Rowan would prefer being a teacher than a lawyer. He's someone who needs a lot of...I don't know how to describe it, enrichment?- and his job isn't giving him that. I love that people are soaking up the gossip about Rowan at the student unions. I feel like he'd hate ever being at one. XD I think he can take the slight pay hit for more personal fulfillment and enjoyment. Yay for a well timed hopeful rainbow!
ReplyDeleteHello, and thanks a lot for the comment!
DeleteIt's probably because I work in academia myself, but to me it was quite spontaneous to show this situation. I mean, a lot of the professors I work with are a bit like Rowan after all. Who knows what happened afterwards, though...