A typical day in my life involves driving all over Bronx and Westchester counties to teach at community colleges and to tutor secondary level students. It’s far more effort and more taxing having 3 part-time jobs than 1 full-time job.
I have so little sick or personal time that I try to use it sparingly. But however inconvenient, there are religious holidays, medical appointments and bereavements that are unavoidable. There is just not an appropriate amount of leave time.
On the other hand, this is a labor I love, and I am not stingy with my time. I’m supposed to give a lecture this semester open to the whole WCC campus, and I am bringing in a guest speaker for the event. I also have students submit assignments to the college’s literary journal, International Voices. I consider these efforts community service and do them as part of my professional service without obligation.
Fortunately, I have healthcare benefits from Bronx Community College/CUNY, where I also get paid 25% more per course. WCC has no loyalty to me as its hard-working employee, so I’m realistic that I can have no loyalty to it. My teaching load was just cut by over 50%. Here’s why. Everyone is cutting back due to budget and registration issues. BCC can contractually promise me 2 courses in the Spring, but not 3. These 2 BCC courses conflict with what’s left at WCC after senior adjuncts have chosen. So instead of 3 and 3 or 3 and 2 or 2 and 2 as in past semesters, I’m left with just 2 courses in total. I just found this out.