One of the things I like most about working in academia is this time of year. As much as I hate giving up the freedom that summer offers, the opening of a school year…
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I’ve written before about my struggles with fitness and body image. Up until about a year ago, though, I was convinced that I finally had these issues under control. I was eating well and…
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Perfectionism isn’t anything new for me. I’ve been my own worst critic for as long as I can remember. As a perfectionist professor, leaving a class and thinking things didn’t go as well as…
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When I was in elementary school, one of my friends revealed that her mom paid her for earning good grades. I had always been an excellent student, so this sounded like a great idea…
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As of this fall, I’ve been teaching English at universities for 31 years. That’s a lot of fall semesters to have under your belt–a lot of back-to-school energy and saying goodbye to the slow…
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Last year, my neighbor Sam passed away unexpectedly. Though Sam and his wife had been like surrogate grandparents to them, neither of my kids were able to attend his memorial service. So when my…
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This is your life: You are born into a family with a history. One child has already died. As children themselves, your parents endured abject poverty. Their greatest fear, now, is loss of control.…