Hi, Professors! This is Karen Gonzalez Rice, art historian, professor and life coach for academics. You are listening to “The Good Enough Professor,” the show that reimagines academic life for overwhelmed professors. Let's create a more supportive, more humane academia, one small, intentional choice at a time. Listen on for how we can do this together.
I was in a meeting last week, a Zoom meeting. This was one of the first meetings I've had in a while, and I was really surprised to feel very self-conscious! This is not something that I expected. I was really happy to see these colleagues. I wasn't dreading this meeting in any way that I was aware of, but in the moment, I just felt so self-conscious, and it got me thinking about how this time of year is really kind of awkward. We're coming back from time away—summer break for many, but it might also be after a sabbatical or medical leave, or just extended time when you've been away from campus. And I've been hearing from faculty that it can just feel really vulnerable to enter back into that space of campus. It can feel like we are suddenly visible again after time away from the spotlight, whether you have a really positive experience of your department or a more complicated set of relationships with your colleagues, it can feel really uncomfortable to be re entering that space after break.
So we're going to talk today about just a few aspects of this re entry, some ways to think about visibility, some ways to think about vulnerability that might be helpful as we're re-engaging. Some of these strategies for your comfort and safety might be useful for you, or maybe they spark ideas of your own about how to navigate this time of the semester. I'm going to focus mostly on visibility and vulnerability in terms of communicating with our colleagues, but towards the end, I'll also share some thoughts on managing visibility in classroom spaces.
First, I do strongly believe that self-consciousness, awkwardness and vulnerability are superpower. Acknowledging and being open to those truly uncomfortable emotions can get us out of our own heads a bit, can bring a little bit of levity to our experience, and also just really help us be more empathetic to the feelings of others, and draw attention to interesting moments of tension or connection or disconnection with the people around us. So I think there's a lot of possibility in vulnerability and visibility. They're not things to avoid, but they are definitely a change. They can feel like a change at this time of year, and they do feel uncomfortable, while also carrying value.
I've heard from a surprising crowd of folks this year that as we're preparing to go back to campus and connect to all of our colleagues again and have conversations, there's a really specific dread of one kind of question: “What did you do this summer?” Or even the softer “How was your summer?” So as we're encountering people in our workplaces, this question is looming for many of us. What did you do this summer? How was your summer?
Okay, it's probably not a surprise to you that I'm a talker. Obviously, this is not something that I necessarily experience in this particular way, but I am someone who's asking this question. I'm very often the one saying, “I'm so happy to see you. I'm so glad that we're back. How was your summer?”, right? And hearing from folks for whom this question is really deeply uncomfortable has helped me take a step back and realize that this is not a question that everyone loves. It can feel really invasive to some folks. It can feel inauthentic. And specifically, what I've heard again and again is that it can be experienced as a kind of pressure about what was accomplished. It's almost like there's an assumption that we have to talk about work or, you know, my conversation partner might feel the need to kind of enumerate her accomplishments.
A really powerful way to address this issue as someone asking the question, or as someone answering that question, is to focus on the present. So if I'm asking the question, kind of reframing to focus on what's happening now in this moment. Or if you're asked “How was your summer?” shifting and re-centering, not on the past, not on the future, but today. “I'm excited to share a meal at the cafeteria today.” “I'm excited to start my first class in a long time today.” “I'm looking forward to closing my door today.” Things that are happening today, in the moment.
Shifting that conversation into the present can be so powerful, and it's actually something that’s a really good practice for academics, because we sometimes struggle with that. We tend to think far ahead on our publication schedules or semester kind of rhythms. We tend to think about what we've done, what we've accomplished, how much more we have yet to accomplish, and it can be a really interesting challenge to focus on what we're actually doing right now.
If you feel confident doing so, you can also kind of think about how you're feeling in the moment and share that. You might even say, “Oh, I'm feeling a little bit nervous to be back on campus after a break.” And just being really transparent can be freeing, and it can also model something really wonderful for your colleagues, it can model a kind of mindfulness, a kind of connection. Maybe it's as simple as,”I'm really happy to be here with you right now. I'm happy to connect with you right now in this moment and have a nice coffee.” Redirecting into the present is a kind of lower-stakes interaction.
You can also decide in advance what you want to share about your summer. This works really well, I think, if you can connect to what you hope for in conversations with your colleagues. So if you want to be more authentic about your hobbies or your non-work experiences, which I know is a goal for some folks, you could talk about a meal that you really enjoyed this summer. Or maybe a different strategy is that you just want to have a good intellectual conversation. In my department, I might share an interesting artwork that I saw, a museum that I visited, or a show that I attended as a way of starting conversation. And what's nice is that this is adjacent to work, it's adjacent to our intellectual roles at the college, but it's also bordering on some personal experiences. If that is something that you're comfortable sharing. Or maybe you just want to make people laugh! Thinking about a funny anecdote in advance, having one or two things that you can put out there can really help smooth that transition.
A couple of thoughts about teaching in the classroom. There's a certain kind of visibility for us, in taking on that professor persona again. I always think about this as being subject to the fisheye on the first couple days of class, when students are just staring at you. That's just sort of a reality of being in front of a classroom. I've been away from teaching for a while, so I have been kind of cataloging some of my favorite ways to face that discomfort and that feeling of vulnerability. One thing I really like to do is wear something kind of silly and funny. For me, this is one of the best ways for me to build confidence. So I don't know, a wacky t-shirt, some really bright shoes, something that makes me just feel a little bit bizarre and confident. And you might have other strategies for dressing for confidence.
On the other hand, I also like to plan for my classes a lot of engagement and activities for that first day, partly for pedagogical reasons, modeling how we're going to be in the classroom in the semester, but also because it puts the focus on the students’ experience. And that's a way that I can feel more comfortable with that shift into being in front of the classroom and having all those eyes on me. Just being able to bring myself out of my own experience and into how they're encountering this material for the first time, how they are having an experience with my discipline, just helps me feel a little bit less awkward. That makes me feel a little bit more comfortable, and really helps me focus on their experience.
This phase of feeling visible and vulnerable can just be really acute right now. So I want to suggest that you honor that with intentionally taking time away from campus, removing yourself from that space of visibility very intentionally. You might also think about scheduling some sensory rest, some time to be in a soft space, in a quiet space, in a space with dim light. These can help us really recharge after being seen.
I'll be thinking of you as this new semester starts, and hoping that you can find some comfort and intention with these weird transitions right as we enter into the new semester.
Thanks so much for listening to “The Good Enough Professor Podcast.” If you want to release academic grind culture and embrace your own Good Enough Professor within, join my email list. You'll get my reflections, gentle challenges, and simple prompts, all aligned with the rhythms of academic life and designed to disrupt the assumptions that get us over committed and keep us overwhelmed. Because remember, you are already good enough.
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