As many of you know, one of my jobs has me teaching Biotechnology at one of Adelaide’s three universities. It involves one three hour lecture and two five hour practicals every week. We’re about two-thirds of the way into term, so I’m starting to run out of gas a bit. After a long day of teaching on Monday, I had lost all patience with my charges and had nearly finished a post employing clichés like “Back in my day….” or “Kids these days…” and throwing around accusations of intellectual laziness and an utter lack of gorm.

Today I had a meeting with my head of department to talk about future prospects at the university. With steam leaking out of my ears, the only future prospect that I had in mind was walking away from my office at the end of term and wishing a fond farewell to the university and my whinging, molly coddled students. I must have been some kind of a saint in a previous life, because what I came out of that office with is still unbelievable to me. It is so outside of what I had considered probable that I can only attribute it to some kind of accumulated karma.

It shook down like this: the boss man offered to extend my contract by 12 months, something I expected and wasn’t that thrilled about. In times like these, it’s nice to have a permanent position even if you don’t intend on staying on as a lifer. These short term contracts and the uncertainty that comes with them are reasons that I wanted out of academia. But then he added, “We won’t have much teaching for you in the first term, but would ask you to teach the same course in the second term.” I am employed as a lecturer so with nothing to lecture, was confused about what my job would be and asked for clarification, “What would you want me to do,then?” To which he replied, “What do you want to do?”

In essence, the university is willing to pay me a retainer – and a fairly hefty one – to teach one twelve week class next August. They’re willing to pay me a year’s salary for 12 weeks of work. During the other 40 weeks, I can do research, I can take some courses for career development, or I can do nothing at all.  For the glass half empty crowd, after the twelve months I may be out on the street. But I’ll have a bit more change in my pocket and, if I play my cards right, all the more employable.

Starting to think this move Down Under was a pretty good idea.

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Image credits:

Golden Buddha

Karma

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