Wants said:
"I do not want to teach. I never wanted to teach. I did it to please another person, who ended up abandoning me. Now I am educated to the max, and age 60. Teaching, despite the bellyaching that people do, is the best-paid profession I've ever been in. If I could get a job for five more years, I'll be okay. I am not qualified to teach in public schools, only universities. If I don't find a job with bennies, I may be living in a cardboard box under an overpass."
Same here, and I too got into teaching out of desperation and wanting out of my long, unhappy marriage. I couldn't find another job that would pay as well either.
But despite the hard assessment you do of yourself in your teaching, it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job! I commend you for holding onto your standards. Most of the professors I encountered during the past 4 years were "hard-edge" in their dealings with all of us students. The ones who tried to get warm and fuzzy weren't as respected in the college setting.
Patty