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Sam’s Answer
Admittedly, I'm not a professor myself, but there are numerous paths that lead to academic careers. Professors teach and do research in many, many different fields, so I think that your first step should involve thinking about academic areas of interest that you can see yourself devoting a career to studying. Once you focus your interests a bit, begin talking to your own professors about how they ended up doing what they're doing and how you can best prepare. I'm sure you'll find that they didn't all follow the same path, but you would also see common themes. For example, professors in a particular discipline would likely have completed doctoral degrees or other terminal degrees in that discipline or in a closely related area, so in all likelihood, you will need to complete some level of graduate education to meet minimum qualifications for most academic jobs. Beyond that, there are any number of variables: E.g., maybe you'd want to work for a few years before starting graduate school. In any event, keep talking to people about the professoriate, but also keep an open mind about your own areas of interest and whether an academic career is right for you at all.
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