A Quickie On Those First Year Students, IV

 And finally, why did I say the FYE teachers and advisers are probably the most caring of faculty or staff on campus? Because they are. Do you really think that by and large most academics other than the FYE teachers and advisers would be in those first year classes if they had a choice? Think they would much prefer to deal more with professional upper-class majors or graduates? Do you really think that institutional leaders who crowd those first year students into nameless and faceless lecture halls by the hundreds in the name of economy and efficiency really are fond of those students or give much credence to those classes? Do you think institutions would be concerned with retention and graduation numbers if it weren’t for obligations imposed by contemporary outside pressures? Do you think the students don’t know all that? Why do you think those students are stunned, literally stunned, when a professor truly cares about them and respects them? If you want a glimpse at the answers to these questions, take a look at PBS’ Declining by Degrees.

 Now, why are those first year students crucial? My god, they’re human beings. They’re each a sacred, noble, valuable human being. They are each are someone’s son or daughter and we should treat them no less than we would want someone to treat our son or daughter That’s all anyone should have to say. But, alas, it’s not. I’ve said this once and I will say it over and over and over again. I will shout it from the rooftop and mountain peaks. What if we imagined that an angel preceded each student, walking before her or him proclaiming: ‘Make way! Make way for someone created in the image of God!’ What if we constantly thought of this, believed this, felt this, lived by this, clearly saw and heard such divine and ethereal messengers. Think it would make a difference how we would see each of those students, how we would listen to her or him, how we would feel about and think of and behave towards her or him? It does. Trust me. I know.

 In a practical sense, those FYE programs are critical. Why? Because the first year students are at the intersection of fundamental issues for themselves as well as for the whole of society. If you nurture them and they make it through successfully, they’re set up for life, and society is better for their achievement. If you weed them out and they don’t make it, they could end up in the burdensome underclass. This is why it’s almost malfeasance to treat the first year students the way most are coldly, matter-of-factly, even callously treated outside the FYE programs.

 Do you know what caring, respecting, loving do? The FYE people do. They know those attitudes encourage optimal intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth; they know where caring rules, there is no will to ignore. They know that the creative heart and mind plays with those whom they love. They know the condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. They know respect does not oppress, it liberates. They know caring, respecting, and love believe in the impossible and makes the impossible happen. They know caring, respect, and loving defy all reason. They know these attitudes don’t let their humanity get numbed by automatic conformity or uniformity. Instead, they force an individualization of those in that classroom, clarify vision, focus the senses, and strengthen convictions. They know that caring, respecting, and loving offer a deep immersion with students that nourish and enrich—and scares the hell out of those who don’t.

 That is why a teacher-student relationship based on trust and respect and confidentiality–and love–is so crucial. I see it all the time. Respect, caring, and love connect, empower, illuminate and understand like nothing else can. When given the chance and support and encouragement, these supposedly “don’t belong,” “letting everyone in” students are incredibly thoughtful, creative, imaginative, and talented. If you just love them, they lose their attitude; they stop posturing they come out from behind their defensive masks of toughness or shyness; they melt; and, they make it.

 Enough. Susan is stirring. Got to keep getting ready for China. We leave early tomorrow morning.

Make it a good day.

      –Louis–

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About Louis Schmier

LOUIS SCHMIER “Every student should have a person who wants to help him or her help himself or herself become the person he or she is capable of becoming, and I’ll be damned if I am ever going to let one human being fall through the cracks in my classes without a fight.” How about a snapshot of myself. But, what shall I tell you about me? Something personal? Something philosophical? Something pedagogical? Something scholarly? Nah, I'll dispense with that resume stuff. Since I believe everything we do starts from who we are inside, what we believe, what we perceive, and what we do is an extension of ourselves, how about if I first say some things about myself. Then, maybe, I can ease into other things. My name is Louis Schmier. The first name rhymes with phooey, the last with beer. I am a 76 year old - in body, but not in mind or spirit - born and bred New Yorker who came south in 1963. I met by angelic bride, Susie, on a reluctant blind date at Chapel Hill. We've been married now going on 51 years. We have two marvelous sons. One is a VP at Samsung in San Francisco. The other is an artist with food and is an executive chef at a restaurant in Nashville, Tn. And, they have given us three grandmunchkins upon whom we dote a bit. I power walk 7 miles every other early morning. That’s my essential meditative “Just to …” time. On the other days, I exercise with weights to keep my upper body in shape. I am an avid gardener. I love to cook on my wok. Loving to work with my hands as well as with my heart and mind, I built a three room master complex addition to the house. And, I am a “fixer-upper” who allows very few repairmen to step across the threshold. Oh, by the way, I received my A.B. from then Adelphi College, my M.A. from St. John's University, and my Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have been teaching at Valdosta State University in Georgia since 1967. Having retired reluctantly in December, 2012, I currently hold the rank of Professor of History, Emeritus. I prefer the title, “Teacher”. Twenty-five years ago, I had what I consider an “epiphany”. It changed my understanding of myself. I stopped professoring and gave up scholarly research and publication to devote all my time and energy to student. My teaching has taken on the character of a mission. It is a journey that has taken me from seeing only myself to a commitment to vision larger than myself and my self-interest. I now believe that being an educator means I am in the “people business”. I now believe that the most essential element in education is caring about people. Education without caring, without a real human connection, is as viable as a person with a brain but without a heart. So, when I am asked what I teach, I answer unhesitatingly, “I teach students”. I am now more concerned with the students’ learning than my teaching, more concerned with the students as human beings than with the subject. I am more concerned with reaching for students than reaching the height of professional reputation. I believe the heart of education is to educate the heart. The purpose of teaching is to instill in all students genuine, loving, lifelong eagerness to learn and foster a life of continual growth and development. It should encourage and assist students in developing the basic values needed for learning and living: self-discipline, self-confidence, self-worth, integrity, honesty, commitment, perseverance, responsibility, pursuit of excellence, emotional courage, creativity, imagination, humility, and compassion for others. In April, 1993, I began to share ME on the internet: my personal and professional rites of passage, my beliefs about the nature and purpose of an education, a commemoration of student learning and achievement, my successful and not so successful experiences, a proclamation of faith in students, and a celebration of teaching. These electronic sharings are called “Random Thoughts”. There are now over 1000 of them floating out there in cyberspace. The first 185, which chronicles the beginnings of my journey, have been published as collections in three volumes, RANDOM THOUGHTS: THE HUMANITY OF TEACHING, RANDOM THOUGHTS, II: TEACHING FROM THE HEART, RANDOM THOUGHTS, III: TEACHING WITH LOVE, and RANDOM THOUGHTS, IV: THE PASSION OF TEACHING. The chronicle of my continued journey is available in an Ebook on Amazon's Kindle in a volume I call FAITH, HOPE, LOVE: THE SPIRIT OF TEACHING. There a few more untitled volumes in the works..

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