"Being a professor can be hard work"

Occasional guest blogger Avery was featured on the cover of last week's local weekly Velocity, which aims to be an alternative paper, but is published by the Gannett-owned Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper.

The story is about young faculty at various college campuses in Louisville -- focusing on their family and work pressures, connection with students, etc.

While some young professors share with their students a love for certain rock bands, Avery says he doesn't:

"I am such a geek that I don't really know much about pop culture," he said, laughing.

But Kolers, who was 27 when he started teaching, said his age still comes to his aid.

"Your students are more comfortable, and it kind of humanizes you because they see greater similarities," he said, adding that his students also often come to him with questions about graduate school since he can still vividly remember his days there.

This is my favorite line from the article, which is actually a caption to Avery's photo:

Avery...looks like he could be a student at the University of Louisville. But he's not — he's an assistant professor.

Actually, in a few months, my 33-year old colleague will be an Associate Professor with tenure.

There's also a nice pic of Avery feeding his young son Adam.

Congrats all around.


Visit this blog's homepage.