5 Things to Keep in Mind If You Wish To Become a Professor

Joining academia is one of the most popular decisions all around the world. While there has been a trend of joining corporates lately, academia remains as indispensable as ever. Most students work hard to get degrees and undertake extensive research to become college professors. Every country comes with different requirements to become one, and these requirements can be quite tedious if you ask me. However, the point remains that becoming a Professor is not an easy job unlike what we might have thought as students. Once you transition from studentship to professorship, you understand how parochial and one-sided your view had been—it is not a cakewalk to be a college professor.

Nevertheless, professors are the backbones of the world education order, and we need plenty of them to keep the discourse going. In case you are interested in becoming a professor yourself, you might want to apprise yourself of a few things which you will inevitably experience. In this article, I will put forth 5 things that you should know before you become a Professor.

1. Continuous Learning is a routine
   If you thought that being a Professor is all about reading out from a textbook, then you should drop the idea altogether. A true Professor is expected to keep learning and stay updated about the latest developments in the field of interest. He must not stick to whatever has been mentioned in the textbooks and should try to impart beyond conventional knowledge. This means he will have to continue learning routinely and stay apprised so that he could handle student queries effectively. One cannot be a Professor with half-baked knowledge.
2. Summer Vacations are not really vacations
   I have heard people say that they want to be a Professor because they get summer breaks as one of the perks. Well, in all honesty, those vacations are vacations just in name only. This is so because summer breaks for students mean work for us. Summer breaks are usually preceded by end-semester examinations which mean loads of answer sheets to evaluate coupled with miscellaneous administrative work. While students can relax away and keep off books for some time, professors cannot. They must keep studying and updating themselves to prepare for the upcoming term. Do not be misled into thinking that professorship is too easy.
3. Try explaining to a crowd; it is tough
   I admit that I took for granted teaching during my studentship. Not just me, most of you would have done the same thing. We sit in our seats and watch a single human explain to a large group of students a variety of concepts and whatnot. To us, explaining looked like a mechanical job requiring no special talent at all.

   

   Fast forward, you come to a slow but definite realization that public speaking whether it is on a stage or in a classroom is daunting and requires more than just knowledge of the subject. Explaining a concept to a range of students with different learning capabilities and inclinations requires strategic deliberation and effective communication skills. These do not develop in a day or two and require patience and hard work. So, those who aim for professorship should be prepared for the same because it is quite a Herculean task.

4. Dealing with Mischief during class hours can be a nerve-racking experience
   It does not matter whether you are a college professor; there will always be students who create ruckus during class. They will always be students who are defiant of class decorum, pass comments, or refuse to pay attention during class. School days are over, and these are no longer class-confined students anymore. You cannot take the approach of a school teacher and will have to adopt newer and more flexible ways of handling them. Of course, there is no way you can change every student in the class but you can surely make them tolerable during class. Do not be overly strict with them but avoid giving them too much room to exploit. Treat them as adults and they might be willing to tone down.
5. Course evaluations are not stamps
   Most likely, your college would conduct course evaluations wherein students will be asked about respective courses and the course coordinator. Basically, students will give feedback on you. You could be doing your cent percent but that does not mean every student of yours will rate you highly. Also, at the same time, do not disregard feedbacks because they can highlight your weak areas. Make it your habit to collect feedbacks and study them intently. Do not get disheartened by negative feedback or overly complacent by positive feedback. As a professor, there is always room for improvement.