Today is the First Day of classes at my College. I’ve been teaching for over 30 years yet the excitement of meeting students for the first time still is a thrill. Many of my students are older (our average student’s age is 26). Some have lost their jobs and are returning to College for retraining. Some students are recovering from broken marriages, divorces, and failed relationships. Whatever their motivation, many of the students I meet today desperately want to learn how to be successful after experiencing its opposite. And I will try my best to help show them how to make Better Decisions with the New Knowledge I present each class.
They are fortunate indeed!
Dan, I have plenty of emails from students who want to get into my “closed” classes. DROP/ADD starts today.
Is this your last year, George?
Patti, it could be. If not, I’m getting close to hanging up my laser pointer.
Your students are indeed very fortunate to have a thoughtful and caring professor like you. I hope at least a few of them can appreciate how you’re trying to help them.
Deb, thank you for your kind words. I was visiting my Mom at Northgate a few days ago when a nurse’s aide came up to me and said, “Do you remember me, Dr. Kelley? I took your class in 2004.” That was over a 1,000 students ago, but I did remember Samantha. She was an excellent student (I always remember the Good Students…and the Bad). My former students are everywhere it seems.
I give you a lot of credit for hanging in there all these years. Your students are obviously very lucky to have you. And I’d agree from my own experience – going back to college even a few years later than your teens gives you a very different perspective and a greater focus and desire to succeed.
Jeff, the older students are way more serious than the 18-year-olds. More and more of my colleagues are retiring. I’ll join them soon enough.
Sock it to ’em, George!
Bill, you remember how the First Day of Classes goes: chaos!
Happy First Day Back, George!
My friend Cheri Anderson shares your enthusiasm for teaching.
Your students are lucky indeed!
Beth, there are many students eager to learn. If I can help them succeed everybody benefits. As long as I feel that I can do my job, I’ll hang in there.
That drop/add thing is something you seem to go through every year. Don’t recall anything like that back in the day, but that was so long ago I’ve probably just forgotten. Good luck with your classes.
Rick, DROP/ADD is one of the banes of my existence. There’s a lot of course shopping and shuffling the First Week creating confusion and chaos. Things will calm down next week.
Admit it, you’re addicted to the “taught to the tune of a hickory stick” aspect of teaching.
Bob, the students haven’t changed much in 30+ years. They still have a lot of problems.
George, best of luck for your new academic year. Your students are lucky to have you as their teacher and guide. In India, we don’t have students returning to college or university, perhaps because the dropout rates are low. However, people enrol for higher qualifications after they start working. I completed my post-graduation in political science in my late twenties.
Prashant, most U.S. students go directly from High School to College. Some take time off. Others work for a few years and decide to go to College to get a better job. Others are laid off from their jobs and come to College for retraining. At my College we have students from age 18 to 80.
I hope you have a great semester, Dr. Kelley! After being back on campus for only one day, I already have contacted strep throat (campuses are a germ factory!). Since I am now the average age of an ECC student, I think that you just called me old 😉 It is crazy to think that I was only 19 when I took my fist class with you, and that so much time has passed! Just as you remember the good (and bad) students, we continue to remember awesome professors 🙂
Lauren, professors remember awesome students, too! Yes, college classrooms are Germ Factories. Hope you recover soon!