The question of how we balance this part of the job was clearly answered by Sandy Shilling MacKelir. When asked to describe when she meets with students who are in crisis during her very busy day, Sandy simply said, "Well it needs to be private, of course. So it needs to happen after the class or before or at noon."

Not all the interviewees participated in all of the activities mentioned. Some instructors needed to set boundaries for themselves as to what they were willing and not willing to do in order to keep themselves emotionally and physically healthy. They had reflected on their work situations and had made some conscious decisions not to do certain things. These decisions were not made lightly or thoughtlessly.

In order for Jan Weiten to feel better and to be able to balance the amount of time she gives to her job with the rest of her life, she actually requested a 25% cut in her workload.

When I work full time, what I'm really doing is working time and a quarter and then you know my weekends are shot. I'd much rather get paid seventy five percent of the time and feel as if I'm doing the kind of job I want to do and not have to take work home as much. It's kind of a survival strategy.

Sandi Rainville finally made some difficult yet necessary decisions to cope. She, like some of the other interviewees, decided that she just could not do it all. She said, "I finally decided that I've devoted enough free time to the school district so if it doesn't get done at school, it doesn't get done. It's like magic. But it's only taken me twenty-five years to get there."

Some of the interviewees just had a sense that they were unable to get everything completed. When Kathy Hamilton was asked about her method of coping with her workload, she responded by saying, "Something must slide. I'm not sure what, but I'm sure there are little pieces of my job that don't get done or don't get done as well as I would like to do them."

These quotations resonate with the discussion in the previous chapter of the breakdown of motivation; the days of solely worrying about what happens in the classroom are gone. Our work lives have become more multifaceted, and we are constantly challenged to do our best, especially in difficult times. We all have many more responsibilities, especially in the areas of students' demands, accountability, and retention. We are constantly reporting, worrying about FTEs, connecting with college committees and other departments, networking with our communities and service agencies, working with students who are more marginalized, and dealing with disgruntled colleagues. Balancing our jobs in ways that keep us emotionally and physically healthy is vital and, as many of us struggle to do this, we still choose to put our students first and foremost.