Back in the fall of 2021, I was approached about teaching a course at the University of St. Thomas. I naturally was curious so after a bit of research I said “yes”. But truth be told, teaching is something I’ve always felt a passion for, and it was a professional bucket list item for quite some time. I just figured it would be much later in my professional life. That being said I was excited to have a chance to teach while I’m still in the “thick of it” from the perspective of entrepreneurship.
Fast forward to Jan of 2022 and I ignorantly started this side quest of life. I say side quest because I’m just an adjunct professor, so I’m a novice at this whole thing. Which will turn out to be a blessing and a curse.
I set out to give these students maximum freedom to operate. I quickly found out, that is not the ideal method.
You know the saying:
Give an inch, they take a mile.
Well, in this case, some took a few miles.
But hey, never miss an opportunity to learn from an experience like this. I decided to embrace my time with 43 unique individuals as a form of psych experiment. I’ve always been fascinated by human behavior and this was the perfect time to learn how people operate.
Some lessons I learned from year one of professoring…
No matter how explicit you are, there will still be people who simply miss it, ignore it, forget it, or simply don’t care.
If you give them flexibility some will bend that flexibility to its breaking points
I tried this thing where I didn’t give them “deadlines” for deliverables and never again will I give graduating seniors THAT level of freedom. Just my worst decision, full stop. What was I thinking?
To maintain relevance in course material I still found myself doing research ahead of time to make sure I wasn’t talking about shit that wasn’t relevant. This is so time-consuming and quite honestly where it probably separates okay professors from good professors and good professors from great professors.
I don’t do anything half-assed and so when I put in max effort and I see some students not return it, it gets under my skin. As the weeks went on I found ways to compartmentalize that but I did figure out it was a pet peeve of mine pretty quickly.
I think I’ll avoid an 8 am class next semester, students don’t like 8 am classes.
Getting students to actively participate is like pulling teeth, but if I do this again, I’m going to force this issue.
This class ended up being more about preparing students for the real world and less about a business idea.
So those are some of the lessons I learned from my first semester as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas. Will I do it again? I hope so, but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Teaching these past 16 weeks has been one of the most fun and rewarding times in my professional career, but I would be lying if I didn’t say it wasn’t mentally draining and at times felt as if it was for naught. I’ve always had a high level of respect for teachers but it’s even greater now.
Quite honestly, I don’t know how full time teachers at any level do it.
I don’t think they:
get paid enough,
get enough respect,
get enough autonomy,
get enough resources,
get enough support,
and quite simply have to just worry about being canceled by people who shouldn’t have the power to cancel them.
Society needs to tread carefully or they will lose every last one of the teachers that matter and will be left with the ones that don’t.
Just so we are clear, my statements above are about full-time teachers, not someone part-time like me, I had it easy. Anyway, I digress. I wanted to pivot to wrap things up.
Throughout my time with these students, it was always two parallel tracks of education. Yes of course the fundamental goal was to teach them about building venture hackable startups, but I also wanted to help prepare them for all aspects of life. Here are some of the key takeaways I tried to hammer home throughout the semester and some things I wish I was taught during my 4 years in undergrad but never got from any professor, counselor, or advisor.
I wanted to pass along some thoughts that I wish someone told me when I graduated from undergrad back in 2010 (yes, over a decade ago).
First, it's a marathon, not a sprint and we all run this race at different speeds. On top of that, it's okay to not know exactly where you are running towards. I'm 35 years old and I'm still figuring it out. What is important is that you never forget what you love and what you're good at. Those two things are your North Star.
Second, don't compare yourself and your professional progress to anyone else, it'll drive you crazy. You can use it as motivation but don't let it define you. Success comes in different forms, not all fulfillment comes in the form of money.
Third, build authentic relationships. Your network is your net worth (or something stupid like that but you get my point). Reach out to people, be courteous, be authentic, and be humble.
Fourth, say yes to things, and be comfortable being uncomfortable. Volunteer to present, volunteer to go above and beyond.
Fifth, first impressions go a long way. Do the little things right and set yourself apart. On-time is late, and early is on time. Remember everything in life is a bell curve. Your job is to be on the right side of it, always.
Sixth, nothing in life worth having comes easy. You all are stepping into a complex world full of pain, distrust, broken systems, and a laundry list of flaws. Just try to leave it better than you found it. Focus on best effort, not best outcomes.
Seventh, lucky number seven. The pain of failure is temporary, the regret of never trying lasts forever. Shoot your shot. Start your company, travel alone, ask them out, join an improv class, take chances and make memories (and learn life lessons).
I figured it would be good to include some “receipts” so you know I’m not full of shit :)
Okay, that about wraps up this edition of “The most random newsletter on the internet” I’ll be back at a TBD time to bless you with another installment of my word vomit.
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Stay curious, ask questions, and build your own theory!
Regards,
Adam