Lesson learned {career}

"Be very careful when your reputation enters the room before you do."

That's the lesson.

Before I became a teaching staff at the department, I used to be a teaching assistant.  I was a PhD student then and as part of my 'study', I TAed for various courses for the department ranging from public administration to globalization.  (To this day, I still have no idea how I had managed such a broad range of topics).

When I graduated and became a Dr., I stayed on with the department.  You know, it was great having an income right after graduation and that I didn't have to worry about, well, anything.

But soon came the problem/backlash...whatever it's called.  I taught a senior level (senior here simply means not 1st year) course in my first term and it was quite a disaster.  First of all, I didn't have a qualified TA because the TA that used to teach all the public administration courses is now a Dr. (aka me)  and the department couldn't hire someone in time.  So, they got a generic TA for me.  Red flag #1.

Red flag #2: I had a huge class.  The number of students enrolled in the course was doubled than what the department originally anticipated.  And given the fact that I had a TA that was not very familiar with public administration, I was very nervous.

Red flag #3: 80% of the students who enrolled in my course were my previous students (i.e. when I was their TA).  And that, THAT, absolutely destroyed me.  I lacked authority, creditability, and.....everything?

It was impossible to establish new norms............and did I mention that they killed my course evaluation?  One guy even said, "Go back to your PhD!"  I was devastated and I was devastated right in front of the department head during my performance appraisal meeting.

In short, I went from one of the top performing TAs in my department to the worst professor in the same department within the span of 4 months.  That was embarrassing......and I still have to wake up every morning to face my students (different students, of course, new course). 

I've received some really hurtful comments before like, "LOW EQ!", but "Go back to your PhD" was definitely a harsh blow to my confidence. 

Hence, the power suit and spiky heels now =D =D =D LOL!