Juggling and Dropping Balls

barclay_barrios
0 1 132
As I near the end of my summer “break” I am once again chagrined at my inability to juggle teaching, administration, and research.  I have a proposal that’s only about half done, I have a summer class that’s about wrapped up, and I have a schedule that’s about ready to be put to bed. It’s that proposal that kills me. Being a WPA means never really being “off.”  Even when I am not in the office in the summer I am checking email and putting out fires and, more than once, running to campus for whatever meeting of importance is being called this week.  I know, theoretically, this juggling act is possible—WPAs do it all the time—but it’s a struggle for me and I almost always drop the ball and that ball is always research. I have a precious two weeks before orientation starts.  There’s much WPA work to be done but I am hoping to make a push to finish the proposal at least. Please, tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with the juggle…
1 Comment
About the Author
Barclay Barrios is an Associate Professor of English and Director of Writing Programs at Florida Atlantic University, where he teaches freshman composition and graduate courses in composition methodology and theory, rhetorics of the world wide web, and composing digital identities. He was Director of Instructional Technology at Rutgers University and currently serves on the board of Pedagogy. Barrios is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, and the author of Emerging.