Today many of us are penciling in our New Year’s resolutions. We’re using pencils because putting them in ink would demand too much commitment. We’ll promise to spend less money and get our finances in order. We’ll promise to eat healthier and exercise more. Of course the new gym membership and the organic produce will bust the newly penciled budget, but we might as well dream big.

Most of us feel compelled to go for the big New Year’s resolution because the beginning of the year is the best marker for sweeping changes, and unfortunately it only comes around once every 365 days. College professors, however, have the luxury of penciling in more modest resolutions because we get our fresh starts more frequently. We get to pace ourselves a bit on the resolutions. Continue reading →