| Certainly works for GPT-3 as a writing prompt: '"im making drugs...for cats?" I shake my head as the prospect of tenure track seems to fade away. "No, I'm not making drugs for cats." "I'm not sure what you're trying to say." "I'm trying to say that I'm not going to be a tenure-track professor." "Oh." I'm not sure what else to say. I know that I should be upset, or at least disappointed. But I'm not. I'm relieved. I've been on the tenure track for six years, and I'm tired. I'm tired of the politics, the infighting, the backstabbing. I'm tired of the constant pressure to publish, to get grants, to bring in money. I'm tired of having to choose between my research and my teaching. I'm tired of feeling like I'm never good enough. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, but I know that I'm done with the tenure track. And that's OK. "So, what are you going to do?" "I'm not sure yet. But I'm open to suggestions." "Well, you could always make drugs for cats." I shake my head and laugh. "No, I don't think that's quite what I'm looking for." But who knows? Maybe making drugs for cats is exactly what I need. "In all seriousness, though, I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do." "Thank you. I appreciate that." And with that, I walk away from the tenure track, and into the unknown. Who knows what the future holds? But for now, I'm OK with not knowing. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I'm open to whatever comes my way. And that, to me, is the most exciting part. (This story was originally published on The Professor Is In blog. It has been republished here with the author's permission.)' |