Tuesday, March 3, 2015

The Patient (Usually) Prof Puts It To Bed.

SOMEBODY EARNED
A COOKIE.
When I read the posts and comments [on this blog,] I see a group of faculty who genuinely want to educate our students and we get pissed because some of them care a whole lot less than we do. And we vent. And CM (and its RGM) give us a forum to do so. Stommel completely misses the fact that our mission is to educate students and that CM gives us a nice outlet for the outliers.

On the reverse: one of my former students is a first generation collegian. Coming to a school like XXXXX XXXXXXX, where some of the students are incredibly wealthy, must have been a hell of a culture shock. Many of our finance majors are alpha males. Well, they'd like to think so at least.

This kid just gets it done. No pretentiousness, no ego, just an incredibly smart kid who works his tail off and is in the top 5 in a class of over 500. He's a little insecure and that came across in internship interviews. 2 of us on faculty pushed hard for him and he got a very good internship. He wrote us both heartfelt notes about how much he appreciated our help.

We can't call that misery, but we can call it a win. And stories like that are why I love to teach.

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 3, 2015 at 5:24 PM

    Nicely said. What ALWAYS has struck me about this place is how much everyone cares about the job and the students. It's undeniable and it pisses me off when people peer in for a minute and miss the whole fucking point.

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  2. CindyMarch 3, 2015 at 5:29 PM

    Pure gold! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Professor ChiltepinMarch 3, 2015 at 5:44 PM

    Thank you. You articulated why it annoyed me to have some Nephelokokkygian come in and tell me how naughty I am for feeling basic human emotions sometimes.

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  4. Contingent CassandraMarch 3, 2015 at 5:58 PM

    A win, indeed. Funny how that getting-it-done/working-your-tail-off thing engenders support (probably all the more so if it stands out among the student's compatriots). Even when the results aren't stellar, that kind of attitude (combined with no, or at least apologetic, excuses) tends to get my (positive) attention, and bring out my own best efforts.

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  5. Ogre Proctor HepMarch 3, 2015 at 6:24 PM

    I've got a few of these "diamond in the rough" stories. When one of these things happens every now and then to recharge my batteries, and as long as I can dump the shittier cargo here, it's amazing how much complete bullshit I can endure and keep plodding forward.

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