Elizabeth Felski

I think my work ethic comes from public accounting and from a really tough accounting curriculum. I've worked since I was young, since I could work, and so I was used to always being busy, always working. I worked through college, and I think that just stuck with me all the way through, even now. Like, we don't need to be here. The hours are super flexible, you need to be here for meetings, but I'm here all the time, because in my mind, this is just a priority, and I need to put everything I can into it. I don't feel comfortable about leaving for the day without everything being done. That can be a downside, too, because I don't have time to do everything to my best ability.

I would say that everybody's path is going to look very different, and if it takes you years or several jobs to figure out where you're supposed to be, do not consider that a failure. Every step that you make in your career, or in your life, will lead you to where you need to be in the end. And you don't have to have it all figured out by the time you're a certain age. It's a process that you'll go through for your whole life. Because I know I saw it that way when I left accounting, like, okay, I'm gonna get this perfect job, and then I'm gonna be there forever, and make my way to partner, and that's just life, and it's not. You're gonna have kids, you're gonna have maybe family, and your priorities are gonna shift, and that's okay, it's not a failure, because you don't want to go that one straight trajectory. You have to figure out what works best for your life and your family.

I think the biggest challenge in higher education is AI right now, because it will do all of the students' work for them, and getting them to understand that, yes, this tool is available that will do it for you, but you have to know how to do it. You have to have the problem solving and the understanding to use it in the first place. In years past, AI became part of their regular repertoire later, when they already had some skills developed. Now, these students, I'm seeing freshmen who have used AI all the way through high school, and so they don't actually know how to do anything on their own, because they're used to using it for everything. ChatGPT did all their homework all the way through high school. So, to have them do a paper test in front of them is mind-blowing. I know and understand the power of even just ChatGPT, and it's a tool that they're going to use in the profession, so ignoring it is not an option. But also, getting the students at a level where they're mature enough to understand that yes, I know there's this shortcut, but we can't have you use that all the time. You have to exercise your brain to keep it moving, so that when you get to work and there's problems that come up, you can solve them and be actually a value add to the company, and not just be somebody who's entering data. If ChatGPT can do it, then they don't need you.

I would say my connections with people are definitely most important. I think here at Geneseo, like, in academia, I feel like students oftentimes feel alone because they're away from their families for the first time and navigating a whole new world. So if I try to make that connection with students to show you may be hundreds of thousands of miles away from home, but we're all in this together, and we're like a community that cares about each other. I may be tough on you in the classroom, but I want you to succeed as a person. I think having connections with people and being able to, especially in this climate, like, we're all so different, but when it comes down to it, we should all be cheering each other on. As somebody who's had, unfortunately, a lot more life experiences than them, being a cheerleader and being like I've been through stuff similar, and it is gonna get better. That's probably my biggest life goal is to impact people in a positive way, because life's shitty sometimes.