I begin my 30th year of law teaching today. I can still remember that hot August day I first stepped into the huge, tiered classroom at SMU. Standing on the raised platform facing a mob of over a hundred eager students. The low hum generated by dozens of pre-class conversations. The feeling of inferiority as all those pairs of eyes checked out the newest professor.

I was scared to death. I had spent the summer reviewing the law of business associations—reading and highlighting the casebook; reading a corporate law treatise; reading law review articles. I had extensive teaching notes in front of me that first day, some of them cribbed from class notes that the late Alan Bromberg had generously shared with me. But I didn’t have a clue how to teach. For the most part, I was mimicking what my own law school professors had done, without realizing why they had done what they did.

It didn’t go well at first. I was shy and hesitant, and students could sense my lack of confidence. Many of the students weren’t as prepared as I’d hoped, and I wasn’t sure how to draw them out and build on what they understood. Some of the students weren’t that eager to learn the law of business associations, and I didn’t have a clue how to motivate them. My first-semester evaluations were horrible.

Things have changed significantly since I began teaching. I’ve changed. I’m no longer afraid as I walk into the classroom; decades of teaching have turned my fear into just a slight tinge of anxiety. The evaluations aren’t as bad; I’ve learned how to teach, and I succeed more often than not. I have even won teaching awards.

The classroom has also changed. When I started teaching, I wasn’t competing with Facebook, online shopping, and email. I don’t think anyone in my first class had a laptop. When I started teaching, PowerPoint wasn’t an option. SMU didn’t even have whiteboards; I had to regularly brush chalk off my clothes. When I started teaching, professors distributed syllabi and supplemental reading via photocopy and e-books weren’t available. Today, I distribute all supplemental material over the Internet and one of my courses is wholly online.

Some things haven’t changed that much. Some of the students are still underprepared. Some of them still aren’t that interested in business associations, taking the class only because they know it will be on the bar. And it’s still a chore to end that hum of pre-class conversations when it’s time to start.

But it’s been a great career. I enjoy what I’m doing, except when administrative hassles interfere with my teaching and research—something that, unfortunately, seems to happen more often with seniority.

If you’re new to law teaching, persevere through the challenges. Learn as your students learn and try to have fun. Law teaching is an awesome responsibility, but, in spite of the struggles, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. I hope you too can look back after thirty years with a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

If you're a student, give those new teachers a break. They're learning, just like you. Take out your frustrations on the old fogies like me.