I wrote this reflective piece in 1999 as I was assuming my first full-time position as a professor with limited administrative responsibilities at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). After 30-plus years in administrative roles in higher education that provided the opportunity to teach on a part-time basis only, I quickly became aware of the challenges and opportunities of the professorship. At UAB I was appointed to the graduate faculty on the basis of prior research and publishing efforts that had gained me full graduate faculty status at Auburn and Alabama. My efforts at that time were focused on teaching and advisement. With time available to do so as I struggle with retirement, I am revisiting some of the unfinished "word-on-paper" efforts from the past.