Academic New Year's Day

Monday was the beginning of yet another school year. However, it was a new experience for me, for this semester marks the shift from being primarily taking classes to primarily teaching classes and working towards a dissertation. My time of being a student has nearly come to an end, and now I'm seeing the steps of transitioning toward being a professor.

This fall, in addition to working on my dissertation prospectus, I'm teaching an Intro to Logic class at Baylor and an Intro to Philosophy class and a Philosophy of Religion class at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, about 40 minutes away. The latter option came up in the last month, and is a great opportunity to teach in a small Christian liberal arts university and get some experience in that setting, as I hope to one day be a professor in that kind of institution.

I've done a little reflecting while doing the commutes about my life as a student. I've thought about all the great moments in my life and all the great people who have helped shape me into the man I am today. I've thought about the things that I think I'd probably do differently if I could. I've thought about the classes that I learned the most from, and thought about the times in life I learned the most. It makes me appreciate my past and motivates me to make sure I don't lose the connection to that past. It also makes me anticipate the future and the shaping that will occur and the ways I will be able to help shape the people and students I encounter. And, although it is incredibly cheesy, I also celebrate this present time as the intersection between the past and the future... and the fact that I'm really happy where I am right now.