Reporter-News Archives Monday, August 25, 1997 Professors can get nervous, too By LORETTA FULTON Senior Staff Writer It's 9 a.m. and he's stepping into his first class, a little nervous but more curious about what the classroom will be like. "I may be too stupid to be really nervous," he confesses. His main concern on this first school day? "Not tripping." It's a typical first day of school. But this guy isn't a new student - he's a new professor. Dr. Richard McLamore, who just recently acquired that title, is today beginning a new career, that of a "real" professor, not just a graduate teaching assistant. McLamore's first class this morning will be a survey of American literature for sophomores and juniors. "They'll have more experience here than I will," he joked. McLamore joins his colleagues at McMurry University as well as those at Abilene Christian University and Hardin-Simmons University in kicking off the fall semester today. McLamore has taken a precaution to ensure there are no glitches in that first class this morning. "I have written out that first lecture, and I'm going to print it out in big words," he said. McLamore joined the McMurry faculty this year after earning a doctorate at the University of Connecticut. He was a teaching assistant in graduate school and also taught high school English for two years. But this is different. The biggest difference? "Walking up the stairs and seeing my name on the door," McLamore said. "Just walking in and having an office of your own." McLamore isn't sure what to expect when he sees his first group of students this morning. The freshmen are only three months removed from the high school students McLamore taught last year, but this is a different world for them and their new professor. The students are out of the nest for the first time and have more on their minds than Nathaniel Hawthorne. The new professor must remember to treat them as adults, be supportive and challenging all at the same time. McLamore said he views the freshmen as "people who are becoming. You have to take them where they are, but you know you want them to wind up some place beyond that," he said. That's one aspect of being a professor that McLamore is looking forward to. Much of his time as a graduate assistant was spent doing research. "I got a little removed from what the kids were going through," he said. At a small school with small classes, McLamore sees the opportunity to be more than just a teacher to his students. "That's what makes people memorable," he said. "When you touch something in a person beyond just what's going on in their head." A big change for McLamore in his new position will be in class preparation. As a graduate assistant at Texas A&M, where McLamore earned his bachelor's and master's degrees, all the preparation was done for him. "Basically you just had to show up with the material read," he said. As a high school teacher, he knew the material so well little preparation was needed. "I stopped making lesson plans in November," he said. "I won't be doing that here." Another change for McLamore will be faculty committee assignments. He has already attended two faculty/staff meetings and likes what he saw. "At the University of Connecticut it was all-out war," he said, but found his McMurry colleagues to be more amicable. "There was no sense that I wasn't welcome to participate," he said. Even if McLamore should happen to trip this morning, either in speech or step, he'll have support close by. His wife, Darcy, who is just a dissertation away from a doctorate herself, will be teaching part-time at McMurry. It was at her insistence that McLamore sent out resumes for a college teaching job. He was happy enough teaching at Xavier High School in Middletown, Conn., while Darcy worked on her degree. But after McLamore completed his doctorate last December, his wife said, "Why not see what happens"? And so he began mailing out resumes to 14 colleges. He was thrilled that McMurry chose him over several hundred other applicants for the English vacancy. He grew up in Fort Worth so he is close to home. But mainly he is excited about the opportunity to be a "real" college professor. And, with a "pathetic market" for professors, McLamore feels extremely lucky to land a job. "I'm getting the opportunity to do what I trained to do because I wanted to do it," he said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local Sports Texas Sports Copyright ©1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications