I love not having to attend evening and weekend recruiting and other various events. I came to despise this ("selling" the school) after the excitement of my first "real" job wore off. Here there is more committee service than at Old School, much of it for my department. But that's okay. It feels more useful (most of the time!). I also serve on the faculty senate (we didn't have that at Old School) for our real (AAUP) union.

Perhaps the best part for me has been rediscovering the pleasure in teaching and the general positive feeling about this profession. Before, at richy rich private school where students were affluent and believed they paid for grades (and degrees), the culture of the university really was that professors were customer service agents. Sure, professors fought that tooth and nail but the school--complete with a "student centered" mission statement--really facilitated it. And the bulk (although certainly not all) of my students viewed their education as something they had to do to "make lots of money." Now, making money after school is a concern of all students, I know, but it was all most of those students cared about. At New School the population is comprised primarily of first generation college students, many of whom are genuinely excited about being in school and a fair number of whom obviously view their education as their ticket to a better life in the most general sense. There's not much "I'm here to get a degree so I can become a millionaire" bullshit.

Additionally, these students--although more naive in many ways--are more curious about social, political, and cultural issues than students at Asshat U, where they were vocal about their apathy over these issues they viewed as irrelevant. At New School, students are open to thinking and talking about these issues as they figure out what they believe and where they stand. It's refreshing.

It's not all sunshine and roses, of course. There are slackers here just like everywhere. More students here received failing grades because they just stopped showing up mid-semester or failed to turned in numerous assignments (then still came to class, which always boggles my mind); this just doesn't happen much when students are paying 30 grand a semester. However, students here don't ten to have the expectation that their screw ups will be fixed by me. There's a resignation of "oh, crap, oh well, I blew it" versus the often heard phases at Old School "you can't do this to me--who do you think you are?" and "I need you to change this grade."

Perhaps most touching to me as this semester came to a close was the large number of students who upon finishing final exams or turning in their last papers approached me to shake my hand or thank me for the semester. Having a good "fit" with a school have never been so obvious to me as it is now. I've gone from rethinking my career choice (maybe I should leave academia) to feeling good about what I do. And that, as they say, is priceless.