Faculty, So much to learn, how will I ever learn it all? As a newly appointed assistant professor, this was a popular refrain. Writing a course syllabus, managing time in the classroom space, acquiring new vocabulary to include words such as faculty governance and P and T, and developing skills as a researcher were all part of my weekly lessons as a junior faculty member. Between the Office of Professional Development that provided non-formal learning opportunities, and informal learning as I observed my peers, as well as proverbial trial and error, I gained knowledge about navigating my professorial role. However, the heart of the job, I discovered, was not in the tasks that were performed, though necessary, but in understanding who I was. This understanding of truth represented the metamorphosis of my ―I‖ and was the unintended by-product of an autoethnographic inquiry project on mentoring conducted with a graduate student, Berta Morgan (Morgan and Merriweather, 2009). The study sought to understand the factors impacting mentorship when the protégé is older than the mentor. This project was the conduit for non-procedural and tacit knowing that ultimately enhanced my understanding of self vis-à-vis my professorial roles as teacher and researcher.
