LAUSR

They kept saying don't worry—one cannot be taught how to teach. It takes experience, successes and failures, good and bad advice, and most of all, time. For a Ph.D. student this is terribly frustrating to hear. After 24 years of school, your job will now consist of a skill that cannot be mastered by studying. This aspect of a career in academia is one most are not prepared to face. Many are not willing to take that dive into the deep end and figure out how to make that transition successfully from student to professor due to an apparent lack of preparation—due to not being taught how to teach. It is not easy, but after two years in the game, I know it is worth it. This talk will focus on my experience throughout my recent start as a physics professor at a small liberal arts college. I will share some of the situations I felt prepared for (few) and those I was not (most). I will discuss my experience beginning research with undergraduate students, building a lab, writing lecture notes, and finding my voice...