"Another drowning in the Adjunct pool" by Jennifer Young
I’m trying to decide whether to finish grading this set of freshman comp essays or just kill myself,” I joked to my colleague a few days ago. But you actually did it. You killed yourself. Right in the middle of the semester.
As the Chair of the humanities program in which you taught, I was your boss. We’ve never met in person because I rarely meet the adjuncts; there are so many of you. I really did want to meet you, though, because you had a reputation. I’m new here, but everyone told me that you were the best. “Always give John courses if you can. He’s the best. The students love him, and he never flakes out.” Well.
I’m teaching your course now, because someone must. It’s an online course, so it’s no big deal — just swap one professor out and another one in. The curriculum is canned, anyone can teach it. Your students, though, seem to actually miss you. They keep asking me what happened. I say that you “passed away unexpectedly.”
To read the rest, click here.
*
