Be The Professor You Love

In the psychologytoday.com article entitled, “Choosing a Major” one of the guiding lights espoused was to select classes based on the professor’s teaching them, not the classwork itself. The thought here being that engaged professors would enlighten you not just to the coursework, but to the larger workings of the world. While the article was careful to hedge and still encourage that students completed the requisite courses to get their degree instead of getting too lost in galivanting through the course catalog, it did bring up an interesting point.

Who are the people, bosses, and professors who have made the most impact on you?

If we look back through our college, high school, and even middle school times, I’d say we’d be hard pressed not to find a teacher or two who didn’t make an impression on us. For me it was Mrs. Stewart, who taught our middle school tech ed. class but would also host chess sessions in the morning (she beat me every time). She was one of the ones who provided the shining example of what a strong, black woman is before it became cool. Or there’s Mr. Kinder in high school, who enamored me with a marketing and economics education. The times spent in his classroom after school doing DECA or a litany of other projects remains my favorite time. And finally, there’s my former boss, Bryant. Who taught me that it was okay to go against the leadership if my actions were in the justified defense of my subordinate. He taught me that you didn’t need to be like by higher ups to make a difference. And his laid-back yet effective style of leadership while also setting boundaries and balancing his home life were an inspiration to me.

In all cases, we have a teacher or two who have had a formative experience in our lives. In turn we should honor that by turning it around and becoming that same thing for others. We always forget that in the process of our own development, we still touch the lives of others. So are your interactions today worthy of the memories that you hold from your previous inspirations? Just a thought.

Thank you for reading