dr.ofwhat?

I have been a full time online lecturer for a year now. I can’t believe that it has been a year, and I can’t believe I started my post-PhD academic career during a worldwide pandemic. I have learnt so much about my role, about students, about education, about research, and about myself. But these are my key learnings:

• I have genuinely learnt that a career is not everything. That I need to prioritise my health, my relationships, my hobbies, and my time to sit in front of the TV and watch house hunters.
• That I get called Dr. less than my male colleagues
• That I can fit a lot into a day if I am organised and prioritise tasks
• I have learnt that students will share a lot of personal stories with lecturers, both triumphs and tribulations, and that I will not take this for granted and always listen intently and provide supports where appropriate
• Following on from that, I have learnt that while I am trying to fit a million things in at once, it is so important to focus all of your attention on what you are doing. Don’t multitask in a meeting with a student. Be present.
• That (rightly or wrongly) to succeed in academia you need to go above and beyond
• That you need to be flexible, things will go wrong, and things will change, but things have to keep moving so you need to adapt quickly