A Shout-Out to Teachers!

As the school year begins, let’s take a moment to remember our mentors.

Today I begin my second year as an assistant professor in the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts. Although I intended to go into academics when I went to college and graduate school, once I took my ‘year off’ from school to follow my creative bliss, I never figured I’d end up circling back to teaching. But I did and I love it. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt a deeper sense of purpose than working with my students.

I’m not just their teacher. I strive to be their mentor.

This autumn, I have been recollecting the many teachers I have had who mentored me along the way.

My music teacher at Jim Hill Junior High School in Minot, North Dakota who encouraged me to sing.

My geometry teacher at Moreno Valley High School in Moreno Valley, California who often allowed us to discuss philosophy and Big Questions.

My English and Creative Writing teachers at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach who supported me in writing a folk opera adaptation of William Faulkner’s “Light in August”, then put up with my feeble first efforts at short stories.

At the University of Virginia, the faculty of the Department of Religious Studies — teachers including Baird Tipton, David Harned, Julian Hartt, and especially Harry Gamble — who opened my eyes to a different, empowering way of thinking about theology, and introduced me Joseph Campbell.

At Yale Divinity school, wonderful teachers including Margaret Farley, John Cook, George Lindbeck, Abe Malherbe, Luke Johnson, and Rowan Greer who not only fed my intellectual curiosity, they also provided me key advice — to take that year off which became the rest of my life.

My entire adult life, I have held teachers in great esteem because of the many benefits I received from their mentoring. Now that I sit on the other side of the desk, I feel an almost spiritual connection with them to continue their good work in the classroom and beyond with my students.

Now more than ever, we need teachers who are knowledgeable about their subject areas, passionate when they are in the classroom, and committed to helping students find their voices. The world desperately needs young people who discover what it is which enlivens them, which energizes them, their bliss, their rapture, their calling, so they may follow that path toward living an authentic life. As teachers, we can engender that process and provide them the life-skills and tools to survive and thrive.

Today, why don’t you take a few minutes and think back on the teachers from your past who have guided and most inspired you. Remember a moment or two from your experiences with them and ponder if there is something in those distant memories — a word of advice, a book recommendation, a poem, a comment — which can reach beyond time and connect with you yet again.

Who knows. Maybe your teachers of old can mentor you anew.

If you’d like to publicly acknowledge some of your most notable teachers, this is a great place to do it. Click on RESPONSE and share some names. Let us know how they impacted you.

And teachers, I send you my best thoughts and bid you to remember this simple fact: You never know when something you say can change one of your student’s life in a momentous, positive way.