I knock on Janet’s door, and as expected, she’s sitting behind her desk, poised and demure as ever. Her jet black hair is pulled up in a bun, and she’s wearing a bright blue suit. “Hello, Ryan. Come on in. Christopher should be here any moment.” She gestures for me to take a seat facing her desk.
As I sit, I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants. “How’s your day going?” I ask, hoping some small talk will help my nerves.
She gives me a small smile. “It’s going well. We’re at a point in the semester where the first few weeks of chaos have passed. Things will start ramping up again in a few weeks, but for now, I can’t complain.”
“That’s good.” We sit in awkward silence for a few moments.
“Let me call Christopher,” Janet says, picking up her phone.
But just then, Christopher David barrels through the door. “Hello, hello! Hope you weren’t waiting too long for me!”
“No, not too long.” Janet sets her phone down, the calm to Christopher’s chaos.
Christopher collapses into the seat next to me. “Hey, Ryan. Looking studly.” He punches my shoulder, then shakes his hand in pain.
I give him a tight grin. “Thanks, Christopher. Good to see you.”
In every possible way, these two are opposites. Where Janet is sophisticated and professional, Christopher is…well, a goober. At least, that’s what Claire and I call him. He’s short, always wearing a suit that’s one size too big for him, giving the impression that he’s a little kid playing dress-up. But we kind of love him, too. It’s not every day you have a former college mascot in charge of your department who likes to lead our meetings in a full falcon costume.
“Well, let’s get started,” Janet says. “Ryan, as we discussed this fall, we need to see some areas of improvement in your contributions to the college.”
I nod. This is what I assumed our meeting was about.
Getting hired to teach at a community college is a huge accomplishment in itself. But once you’re hired, you go through a four-year tenure review process. Basically, if you can prove that you’re a competent instructor and a valuable member of the college community, you can work there forever (barring any illegal activities).
I’ve got the competent instructor part down. But valuable member of the college community? Well, I might need a little work there.
See, I love teaching my classes. But I also love surfing and having free time. So spending that extra time working on projects for the college isn’t exactly my first choice.
But this was a big topic of conversation at my tenure review meeting in November. If I don’t figure out a way to be a valuable member of the college, I’ll be under probation next year.
And if I want to keep working with Claire, I can’t let that happen.
Janet eyes me carefully. “Have you come up with any ideas?”
I sit back in my chair and scratch my head. “I’ve been thinking about it, but I haven’t found anything that feels right.”
“I can always offer some suggestions,” Christopher says.
I turn my head to him. “Like what?”
Christopher shrugs, then waves a hand in the air. “I don’t know…like making my next video with me.”
Yeah, not happening. Christopher has a YouTube channel where he teaches math concepts to the tunes of popular music. It sounds like a good idea, except Christopher has no idea how to be cool. His latest video, explaining imaginary numbers to the tune of “Party in the USA,” went viral for all the wrong reasons.
I snap my eyes to Janet, pleading silently for her intervention. She clears her throat. “While I’m sure your videos could benefit from Ryan’s contribution, that wouldn’t exactly be helpful to the college as a whole. Those are your personal endeavor.”
Christopher slumps in his seat. “Well, that’s all I had.”
Janet heaves a sigh. “Ryan, what are your interests? There’s curriculum committee, academic senate, calendar committee…”
The grimace on my face stops her list. “There’s got to be something you’d want to contribute to the college,” she says.
“I just care about teaching,” I say. “And the students. I don’t want anything to do with all the administrative stuff.”
“I understand,” Janet says.
“Me, too,” Christopher adds.
