Becoming an assistant professor brings with it numerous challenges, one of which is teaching undergraduate courses for the first time. Shira Joudan reflects on the ups and downs of setting up and delivering her first course.

Because I started as a tenure track assistant professor in January 2023, I didn’t need to fulfil my teaching duties until this September. My position at a research-intensive university means that I teach one course per semester in addition to research and service, so now, at the time of writing this, I have been teaching for six weeks as a professor. So what have I learned? Well, everyone told me that the first year of teaching is hectic, and so far, I agree!