First Day as Associate Professor

On my first day of class every year, I'm always tempted to post a picture, the way that parents post pictures of their kids as they head off to school. This year, the temptation is especially strong, as today begins a slightly different direction in my teaching life. Today is the first day that I am teaching as an Associate Professor on a tenure track.In some ways, not much will change. I'm at the same school where I've been teaching full-time for 2 years in a year-to-year capacity. I'm teaching the same classes, and I have the same schedule. But this year, I have the assurance of being able to do this teaching work for at least the next 5 years. Being on the tenure track means the school has more of a commitment to me than before.This year I will have committee work, and we got our assignments yesterday. I am on the Interdisciplinary Studies Committee. As I looked at the other possible committees, I felt very seen with my assignment. I'm not exactly sure what the committee does, but…