Jason Norman
Adjunct English instructor
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA USA
“I've learned that it's better to regret doing something than regret not doing it.”
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Winning two journalism awards and publishing thousands of articles
Going to graduate school
Finishing graduate school in a year
Grabbing a college instructional job right out of grad school
Staying at the job for nine years
Losing the job
Getting a new teaching job at my alma mater
Publishing five books, including one about my first year as a father after being diagnosed with autism
Keep following my journey
Education
Career
Adjunct English instructor
I teach several levels of English.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Writing
Helping People
Day to Day
It starts the day before. You plan as much as possible—what you'd like to cover, how long it will take, what you are looking for, etc. Always give yourself more material than you think you'll need. Then you come to class and start with an attention-grabbing activity, like a journal. Get through a brief introduction of the assignment, and get the attendance sheet passed around. Then act out the script you prepared for yourself beforehand; students like teachers who come in ready to go!
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Take some classes to see if your personal passion bleeds over into your professional one. What you like as a person might not seem so attractive when you discover what it truly entails. Get started early, so if you are disappointed, you have time to recover.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"I can't say that I heard discouragement; no one ever said that I shouldn't be a college instructor. I wasn't a great student, so I had self-doubts, but that was about the extent of discouragement."
