"Since my provost gave me the news about my promotion, I have been wallowing in "post-tenure depression." Apparently this is an actual thing, though no one told me about it on the tenure track.
The phenomenon seems akin to a midlife crisis. (Indeed, given my age, it may be a midlife crisis.) It is accompanied by the certainty that my life has been wasted, and a sudden inspiration to quit academe and pursue a career in business or improvisational comedy. On the worst days, it manifests as an almost tangible feeling of trying to slog through a pond of molasses. A friend gave me a New Yorker cartoon of a bearded, hairy-legged, bespectacled professor saying, "Today, class, I'm proud to announce my tenure," as he flings away his pants. I am pleased to report that I have not felt even the slightest need to show off my own hairy legs, even for the temporary thrill of shocking my unsuspecting students."
Read the rest of Kathryn D. Blanchard's ruminations here in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
- Ikhide
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