Its been a while since I updated my blog. My apologies, its not that I haven’t had plenty to
write about, its just that work kind of took over and the myriad of
administrative responsibilities made me forget the things that I love about
this profession.
This is a period that most academics will be hiding under a
pile of dissertations and essays waiting to be marked. I am no different, so
this is a perfect time to procrastinate and reignite my little blog with some
thoughts that occurred to me this morning amidst a chaotic day.
So just before I dive into endless marking I thought I would make a record of what I love most
been an academic (obviously marking is not one of them).
1. I drink from the fountain and I am the
fountain.
I am smack in the middle of a fountain of knowledge and my
work expects me to consume the fountains water daily but also produce some.
2. I am surrounded by
youth cleverer than me.
No matter how little, my thoughts and interpretation of
hospitality become a part of the lives of some amazing individuals who more
often than not engage in careers far more successful and much better paid than
mine (and that is an expectation I have from them).
3. I have fun doing
what I love doing.
I have not stopped learning so much from my students and my
colleagues on a daily basis. I think my students think I am nuts when I tell
them I am no teacher or expert, just a truth seeker…
4. I have my cake and
eat it, too.
Yes some times I do get frustrated by bureaucracy or lazy
students who waste their potential but that’s when my consultancy or charity
work gets me a small dosage of the hospitality industry buzz.
I made a conscious decision years ago to say good bye to the world of hospitality as a professional and enter the
world of academia. It has been about 14 years since I made the transition, I
know I am poorer than I could have been but I rarely measured success in
monetary terms.
To quote the movie maker Marcos Marcu*:
Success is
the joy you feel inside.
* see Papadopoulos and sons (2012) it has Glorious Greekness and the spirit of Hospitality at its best!
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