S. Worthen | Weblog

Oddly, no. I was really good at my non-academic jobs. Paid more than I have been as an academic, substantial pay rises after three months' probation, doing things for which I had absolutely no formal training ... I trained people on DSL technology and helped sell DSL provisioning to ISPs for a start-up company, for which I was also a marketing manager ... But I did a lot of presentations and training, which are transferable skills. Then working for a dot.com with a great product for the real estate business -- another thing I know nothing about.

I was travelling about 50-60% of the time... eating badly ... dealing with accounts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars ... and not stressed. I think it's because I didn't have any training, so what could they expect? I knew I'd always be better than many of my peers, plus I had the "still learning" thing to fall back on.

But when it's academic stuff, I'm generally scared to death. Then I'm in front of my real peers -- the people who do what I love and whose respect (and face it, approval) I most desire. I'm fine in the classroom, and presenting on pedagogy is not at all frightening. But presenting at conferences? Turning in anything I've written to someone else? Migraines and bronchitis. Spots. So I guess you could say I'm stressed when I care.

Sorry ... long procrastinatory answer. I'm supposed to be marking.