Happy Professors Series: Self Discovery, Travel, and Relationships
“ I currently teach full-time in Orlando, Florida, and I own a Human Communication Consulting business. I’m also writing a book for recent STEM graduates entering the workforce that’s a hybrid between a textbook and a self-help book. It’s about transferring public speaking soft skills from the classroom to the workplace.
I’ve held many teaching positions throughout my life, but my teaching journey truly started while I was working on my M.A.
I expressed an interest in working as an adjunct once I graduated, and the university allowed me to shadow with one of our veteran instructors. I started to adjunct part-time after I earned my degree and realized that I liked being in the college classroom so much more than the 9 to 5 managerial type of work that I was doing.
When a full-time instructor position became available at the university, I wasn’t shy in making it known that I really wanted the job and applied for it. After going through the formal hiring process, I was offered the position. That was 5 years ago and I can honestly say that this type of work is my favorite of any that I have done so far in my professional career.
There are a lot of things that make me happy about teaching.
The non-traditional schedule, the time off so that I can travel and engage in my own personal development, working with a lot of 18 to 22 year olds who have such optimistic energy and are excited about all of the possibilities that await them, that the purpose of my work isn’t about making money.
I get to focus on asking questions and seeking answers for the sake of knowing as opposed to financial profit, as often is the case in the world of business. I get the opportunity to focus on writing; my teaching informs my writing, and then the process goes full circle by my writing informing my teaching.
I work with interesting and intelligent people from all over the world, and I’m able to enjoy the relationships that I have developed with my former students. I have made some wonderful friends of all ages from the classroom. Those friends are now around the globe and earning advanced degrees, starting new jobs, getting married, having children, basically living life, and I get to celebrate those things with them.
My job often doesn’t feel like work. It’s fun, and something that I do naturally anyway.
~ Gino
Orlando, Florida
College instructor, business owner, world traveler, writer