CHINA DIARY 9: WHAT DO YOU DO
Dear Dairy, Sunday, May 20. Short and sweet tonight. I wanna exercise beyond doing push-up and ab crunches, but it’s almost impossible to go on my pre-dawn morning meditative walks. I go out, take a few deep breaths and whatever is hanging in the polluted air makes my throat scratchy and my lungs think feline claws are tearing at its alveoli. So, in you, diary, I guess I finally figured out another way to nurture myself. As a sidebar, each day we all need to nourish our spirit, to feel intellectually rested, emotionally refreshed, spiritually renewed, and physically relaxed. I guess you’re my newly discovered China reenergizing and balancing quiet time. I’ll hit the pre-dawn streets when I get back to the States. Doubt if I keep up the talking with you.
Anyway, I was asked today in a store and about something I always get asked here or back home, “What do you do?” Wouldn’t it be neat if people asked each other instead, “What do you offer?” Now, that’s a question which might make someone stop, think, and reflect. I think my answer to that question would be that of the servant teacher. “I offer unconditional hope, love, faith, support, encouragement, and the desire to make a difference in each student’s life.” That would be so much more interesting and meaningful, as well as cause the questioner to pause, than just saying a bland, “I’m a history professor .”
Louis
August 20, 2010@ 10:55 pm
Do most professors fulfill all that (hope, love, faith, insight), or do some teach just for the sake of it? I’ve had some who clearly didn’t want to be there, others who were there to boost their resume and show their vast knowledge, and still others who really cared on an individual level. Out of them all, I can’t say that any of them encouraged or spread hope, outside of pure academics (“why, sure, you can get another “A.”). I’ve had some that have inspired me, shattered me, boosted my skills, or made me interested in a subject- but it’s always been directly related to a class. Even my academic advisers barely mustered up checking my classes off a checklist, let alone advising me. That’s not to say that I haven’t met a lot of great staff, administration, and professors at schools, but they still seem like finding a gem in a salt mine.