Why Teach at a Community College?
Author’s note: This is only partially about teaching at a community college; it’s also about doing what makes you happy, providing value, and living a virtuous life aligned with Stoic Logos. I write more about teaching on Medium.
About 8 years ago, after over a quarter-century in industry, I left corporate for academics. At the time, I had two bachelor’s degrees (finance and economics) and a master’s degree (computer science), and my industry career was wholly focused on technology and software engineering. In deciding to move to academics, given I didn’t have a PhD, my only academic career option was a community college (only a master’s is required). I quickly got a job at the local college; however, as an obsessive, somewhat neurotic, overachiever, I immediately applied to the nearest PhD program. I was accepted, worked full-time, went to school full-time, and graduated 4.5 years later with a PhD in computer science, with a concentration in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The closer I got to graduation, the questions began.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Do you have a University you’re applying to?”
“Are you going back to industry?”
Nope. Nope. Nope. I’m happy where I am.
I often heard, and I still regularly hear, “You can make 2–3 times more money in industry.” True, with my background and area of expertise, mid-six figures is a given. I hear, “You could get a tenure-track position with a ‘decent’ university.” True, my area of expertise is as hot as it gets right now. As a graduate of Texas State University, while I could not get a professorial position at the likes of Carnegie Mellon, a position in a good research institution was assured.
Thanks, everyone, but no thanks. I’m happy where I am.
By all accounts, I am a fool, albeit a happy fool. However, there is a method to my madness. It’s all about priorities and alignment with Stoic Logos. My priorities are personal freedom, academic freedom, intellectual freedom, low stress, and providing high value. Notice what is not in that list: money, status, and prestige. My interest in money only goes as far as what I need to live the life I want to live and what I require to keep my family safe and well provisioned. So far, I’m doing just fine in both regards. My interest in status and prestige is virtually nonexistent. Other people’s opinions of me and my life carry about as much weight as pocket lint.
“Then what is to be prized? An audience clapping? No. No more than the clacking of their tongues. Which is all that public praise amounts to—a clacking of tongues.”
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.16, trans. Gregory Hays
“Take care that you are not made into a Caesar, that you are not dyed with this dye, for such things happen. Keep yourself then simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation, a friend of justice.”
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.30, trans. George Long
Given my priorities, I analyzed my options.
Corporate: No personal, intellectual, or academic freedom; high stress, dubious value-providing. I’d get lots of money, and the cost of that money? Just my soul, that’s all. That is a non-starter; my soul is not for sale.
University: moderate personal, intellectual, and academic freedom; high-stress, possibly high-value providing, same money. The university option is at least potentially rewarding, but when stacked up against the community college career, for me, it wasn’t a choice. That’s not to say I wouldn’t consider it, but it didn’t make sense in the sense when all things were considered.
No doubt, a university position carries more prestige and status, but for me, it comes with a cost. First, there is the “publish or perish” directive. To get a university position as a full professor (a position I already have in my college) requires publishing often and in respected venues. You not only have to publish frequently, but you also need to do so on in-fashion topics and bring positive in-fashion attention back to your department. You cannot just pursue your heart’s desire; you need to follow the trends.
University careers also carry a certain amount of politicking and positioning, which for me is also a stressor. A university position at my level would require undergraduate and graduate advising, which is mostly unpaid and, again, a stressor. There are only two things a university position really offers over a community college: prestige and research opportunities. Prestige is meaningless to me, and I’m already free to research whatever I choose.
“Suppose then that thou hast given up this worthless thing called fame, what remains that is worth valuing?”
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.16, trans. George Long
Conversely, community college life, for me, is outstanding. Start with complete personal, academic, and intellectual freedom, with no one breathing down my neck to publish. If I want to research, I am free to do so, and on any topic I wish. I won’t get college support, but I also don’t get administrative interference. I have no student advisory duties, but if I would like to advise, I can (unofficially). My stress level is almost zero. I have a great administration, a great boss, good support, a good salary, good benefits, and great students, and a lot of my job is just reading and talking about stuff I enjoy reading and talking about anyway.
“The nature of the good is a certain kind of choice, and the nature of the bad is a certain kind of choice. What then are externals? Materials for the choice.”
—Epictetus, Discourses, 1.29.1–2
All that is already enough to make the decision, but the real gold star goes to the value I provide at a community college. At a university, I’m just another professor, just another PhD, and my 25+ years of corporate experience are mostly useless. In a university, my students would primarily be 18- to 20-year-olds, most of whom aren’t really sure why they are there except that they are “supposed to go to college.”
Conversely, in the community college, my students need me, not just anyone; they need me specifically. My students run the spectrum: the 18-year-old who is there because their parents said so; 20-somethings who came back to school because they need to; 30-somethings who require or want a career change; 40- and 50-somethings who are unemployed or underemployed and require a new start or leg up; and just about any other circumstance you can imagine. Most importantly, many of our students are ones who, for one reason or another, cannot drop $150k on a university education but still deserve that same quality education.
Therein lies the value—my students deserve a PhD at the front of the classroom every bit as much as the university students, maybe more. Unfortunately, the sad truth is most PhDs are not willing to take this position. I will not only take it; I take pride in it.
“Do not waste the remainder of your life in thoughts about others, when you do not refer your thoughts to some object of common utility. For you lose the opportunity of doing something else.”
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.4, trans. George Long
“When thou risest from sleep with reluctance, remember that it is according to thy constitution and according to human nature to perform social acts.”
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.12, trans. George Long
Whatever their background, all my students have one thing in common: they require hard-nosed, real, practical training in addition to an academic and theoretical education. I am literally built for this. In a university, I’d be just another PhD, but in the community college, I’m able to give my students access to cutting-edge PhD-level perspectives and education, which they might not otherwise get, along with practical hands-on training.
While I would provide high value to a university student too, the value I can provide to a community college student is higher. In my college, I have the opportunity to teach both theory and practice, and I’m using my experience and education to the fullest while giving my students as good or better an education than they could get in a university. Everyone wins.
“The duty of a man is to be useful to his fellow-men; if possible, to be useful to many of them; failing this, to be useful to a few; failing this, to be useful to his neighbours, and, failing them, to himself.”
—Seneca, On Leisure, 3
Point being, this is not only where I’m happy; this is where I’m needed. When all things are considered, isn’t that really what life is supposed to be about? If you’re not happy, not at peace, and not providing value while happy and at peace, what the hell are you doing?
None of this is about selling people on a community college teaching career; it’s about the alignment of priorities with Stoic Logos. It’s about examining what really makes you happy. It’s about asking, what do you really want, what are you willing to give up to get it, and how are you going to achieve it?
If your life is not one where you can genuinely say you are happy and at peace while you are also providing high value for others, fix it.
“Consider yourself dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.56
Beautiful.
Success if I’ve ever seen it.