From emtboy9/Flickr

In this article on NYTimes.com by a community college adjunct professor, malady she shares experiences teaching in the US that sort of mirror my own in Thailand.

“At the community college where I work, health
I have no permanent desk or office, no telephone, no benefits and, to many, no name. When I calculate the time and money spent traveling, grading, answering e-mail, teaching and planning, my wages come to about $9 an hour.  Faced with this situation at any other job, I’d leave with no regrets. But these conditions are outweighed by the simple fact that I’m needed. When I walk into my classroom and look into 20 pairs of eyes ready and waiting to learn, I can’t turn away…In college and in graduate school, I learned to hide my ignorance, surreptitiously looking up information on my own time. My students don’t bother with that kind of intellectual guile. Their honesty disarms me, and forces me to keep my teaching fresh.”