Just a question to throw out there. What made you want to be a teacher/Professor in the first place? limr, I would love to hear your answer.
It wasn't really a conscious decision. I mean, I've always loved chalk and wished I could be the one who always got to use it on the chalkboard

but other than that, it was not a burning desire to be in the classroom. I did, however, have a desire to always be in an academic setting because that's where I felt comfortable. When I majored in linguistics in college, I admired my professors and the subject matter so much that it made me want to be like them. My favorite professor was a big-time hardass and the A grade I got in her class is still one of my proudest moments. After I took her class, she asked me to come back as a teaching assistant (even as an undergrad) and I did that for two semesters. I really enjoyed it and wanted more.
In grad school, I got a TA-ship that paid for my tuition and gave me a stipend each month for living expenses in exchange for teaching 8 hours a week in their English Language Institute. That was also really tough. The director of the ELI was another no-nonsense old-school professor and I loved her just as much as I did my undergrad mentor. I grew to love being in the classroom more and more. After grad school, I taught overseas and after 5 years, returned to the States. I was burnt out and thinking of changing profession, but after 3 months I still couldn't find a job, so I got some ESL classes at the community college to get a salary, any salary.
I've been there ever since, though I've moved departments and gotten more involved in other aspects of the college as well. Even though it's incredibly frustrating in a lot of ways - including how horrible the pay is! - and even though planning an exit strategy, I can't really wrap my head around not being in the classroom. A bad class will leave me in a bad mood for hours, but a good class will leave me floating on air for days. I might ***** about it when I'm not in the classroom, but once I AM there, everything else falls away. Just me and my students and we're doing our work...it just feels natural at this point. It's the real work I'm doing, and it's why I put up with all the other crap. Yes, I knew it wasn't going to pay me millions, but I never cared about millions. I do care, however, about being paid a living wage and being appropriately compensated for my work, but teaching work is consistently undervalued and underestimated and I don't accept for one second that I'm supposed to shut up about that. Why can someone else demand their worth but teachers somehow are supposed to do it just for the love of it? Are we supposed to be altruists or something?