A study was conducted of the processes involved in adapting to a community college teaching career, which tends to consist of essentially the same duties and responsibilities throughout the period of employment without external boundaries demarking different career activities. The study employed an ethnographic methodology, involving in-depth interviews with 30 full-time faculty members in four community colleges which explored underlying motivations and ambivalence surrounding their acceptance of their career. Study findings included the following: (1) despite the existence of earlier career experiences, once faculty members came to the community college their careers fell into the one-stage pattern; (2) "Ambitious Faculty" were unaccepting of a lifelong career at a community college, and saw themselves in an early, temporary stage of their career; (3) "Proactive Faculty" accepted their long-term future at the community college and avoided boredeom and routinization by purposefully seeking out new activities and opportunities; (4) "Reactive Faculty" also accepted their long-term community college future, but did not feel it necessary to seek out change to relieve boredom; and (5) "Disengaged Faculty" were unsatisfied with their careers and identified more with their disciplines than with their colleges. A four-page bibliography is included. (EJV)