College Professor: Being a College Professor

Introduction
Love your subject, whatever it is. Become a devotee. Read everything you can about it. Learn to write well. Develop an expertise few people have -- learn a language, publish an article, publish poetry, participate in local government, join a chess club, host an art show, become an officer in an organization outside your college. Travel to interesting places. These experiences and skills will help to distinguish you and your interests when you apply to graduate school. If you want to teach theater, learn to perform. Learn to perform anyway (see below).

Job Function
Teaching is writing your own material, being responsible for its contents, and performing for several hours a week in front of your classes. It is performance with audience interaction. What could be better? And sometimes the students can be teachers, too, if the assignments are probably thought out and guided by you. To grade papers effectively, learn strong grammar skills (helpful for all fields), develop patience and a sense of humor; have specific goals for your students to reach and important things you would like them to learn. If you love your subject (see above), this will not be difficult. Faculty meetings tend, however, to be dull, though they too can be interesting theater from time to time. Advertisement
Lifestyle
Teaching has flexible hours but you will find you work much of the time. The definition of "work" expands to include other fun things, however, like going to museums, traveling to libraries or conferences, seeing plays that are related or perhaps not related to the subject you teach, writing articles, novels, and who knows what. So work is also fun, somehow. On the other hand, it is wise to take some time off, when you can, to regenerate the batteries. College professors should take up a sport of some kind that takes them out of their chairs. I prefer dancing, horseback riding (when I can find someplace to ride), walking, and recently, boxing, but usually I exercise only twice a week, should do more, no time.

Additional Information
I wish to thank my student Parice M. Grant for asking me to write this. At her request, I have also contributed a fairly random response on an activity I call "medievaling" which has to do with the study of the Middle Ages, my field of teaching.