Influential Teacher

Describe the teacher who has had the greatest impact on you. I had to think long and hard about this assignment. Quite honestly I do not remember much about my very early years of school---kindergarten-third. I could only remember if I liked teachers or not through the rest of elementary school and even into middle school. High school is even somewhat of a blur. After all I did graduate in 1993! Unfortunately my professors at Dutchess Community College just did not do much for me either.

When I began classes at Marist I was nervous, to say the least. While I was very excited, I really felt like a fish out of water. My first class which began in September 2009 was History of Photography and my professor was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed his lectures and really wanted to be a part of his class. I took the class more seriously than I had in the past. I truly believe a lot of my interest in the class and determination to do well had to do with my professor.

When I did poorly on my first test he did not sugar coat things for me nor did he discourage me. I spoke to him and asked for extra credit, there was no extra credit. However, he did not feel that this was the end of the line for me either. I was concerned that one poor grade would affect the entire semester for me. In the end, I got an A-; obviously that one test grade did not hurt me. What impacted me most was that he never rushed me out the door at the end of the night. To some this may not be important but he took the time to get to know me and asked questions about why I had gone back to school. I never felt like ‘the new kid in town.’ He always included me in class discussions as any good professor should. There have been times in the past when I have felt as though professors have had their favorite students and others were not included in discussions. As an older student fitting in can be challenging. I was not concerned with the other students so much; however, I felt it was important to have a good relationship with my professor. At times when I felt that I could not get through my studies he would have encouraging words for me saying that I could do it and that just taking the step to go back to school as an adult showed my determination to earn my degree.

I feel that if I had a professor who was less compassionate or less interested in my education, I may not have done so well in the class or the semester for that matter. At times professors just teach the book as it is, word for word. I never felt that way in his class. I truly felt that because of his experience, knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject that I learned so much more. I had such a wonderful experience in the class that it made me realize that I wanted to be on campus more than taking online classes. I found that I really wanted to be a part of the classroom because of this professor. On nights when I just wanted to go home after a long stressful day at work I would think about how interesting his class would be and how I really wanted to learn more because of his love of photography. He inspired me to want to be in class and not just go home and turn on the television for the night. I am thankful for this professor because he helped make my start at Marist a memorable one. I suppose I should let him know this one day.