Identiy Crisis

My first week at work was, shall we say, a soft opening. Most of the faculty don't report until Tuesday, and classes don't begin for another ten days. My boss wasn't in, and many of the summer staff were on vacation. It was rather quiet on campus. Amidst all of the first week re-arranging of office furniture, mapping of computer drives, and figuring out how to use the copier, where the bathroom was, etc. one thing happened which threw into sharp relief an issue I will need to address quickly.

A student stopped in to drop something off and I was the only one in the office. We chatted for a while. I asked her name. She asked mine. I wasn't sure how to answer. It wasn't the first time I'd thought about this, but it was the first time I'd come face to face with it.

Who am I?

In the collegiate setting, it was easy and appropriate for me to invite students to address me by my first name. Like most secondary schools, though, the custom in my new setting is for students to address adults as Mr., Mrs., Ms., etc. In general, I'm not very formal. While I can and probably will get used to this, it's not particularly comfortable at this point. But more importantly, I have a complicated last name.

Herrmann-Keeling is a combination of two not particularly hard to pronounce words but when people see it written - with all the double letters and the hyphen - many seem thrown and can't figure out how to say it. And when it is heard rather than seen, the beginning sounds like a first name, which it certainly can be. So if I introduce myself as Mr. Herrmann-Keeling it might be interpreted as Mr. James Bond.

It's also four syllables, which makes a quick pass in the hallway difficult:
"Hello, Mr. Herrmann-Keeling"

I am thinking I might be more comfortable if students call me "Mr. H-K." But do I introduce myself as Mr. H-K? That seems . . . odd. Am I making the situation worse if I say, I'm Mr. Herrmann-Keeling but you are welcome to call me Mr. H-K?

Towards the end of the conversation with the student who'd stopped in the office, she asked my name again. Can't say as I blame her. I pointed it out on the nameplate outside my office door and told her I was interested in finding a shorter alternative. She asked me what I would prefer to be called. I said, "Scott. But I don't think that will fly around here." She agreed that it wouldn't. She also agreed that Mr. H-K might work fine.

Now I just have to figure out how to work it into conversation. Any ideas?

-SHK