This video is basically my little “wait… I really did that” reflection on year one of teaching as a professor at 25. Over the past year I taught 7 courses across 5 universities and 1 college, and I even got to lead a study abroad course in Ireland and Northern Ireland (still kind of unreal). I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at one of my lectures so you can see what a teaching day actually looks like for me—how I show up, how I run class, and what the vibe is like when you’re the person at the front of the room. I also walk through 3 big lessons I learned from this whirlwind year. It’s the stuff I wish someone had told me earlier: what surprised me about teaching so much, what I had to learn quickly to stay sane, and what actually matters when you’re trying to be a good instructor while still being a whole human with a life and a PhD brain. If you’re curious about young professor life, thinking about academia, or you just like realistic “here’s what it’s really like” grad school content, this one’s for you.