'tis the Season

For letters of recommendation! I've been asked by at least a half-dozen students, which makes me feel proud. I'm pleased that they consider me a good judge of their achievements and skills. Most of the students who've asked me to write are exceptional, and it's a pleasure to articulate this fact to the awards committee. (I write an awesome letter, if I do say so myself.)

Even more important to me, though, is that the students themselves hear how exceptional I think they are: I always give them a copy of the letter for their own files. I remember how proud I was when my professors praised me - I'm returning the favor.

Actually this semester, I've been trying to be the kind of professor that I wished I'd had as an undergraduate: I've been listening a LOT more to students who come to me to talk about their lives, their worries, their worlds. Sure, I'm behind on my grading, but when someone drops by and says (like yesterday), "I'm just bored so I thought I'd come talk to you," I'm thrilled. Okay, maybe a little panicked and irritated because I was trying to read a bunch of reports to prepare for a meeting, but what's more important that talking with a first-year student who's trying to wrap her head around Peggy McIntosh's "invisible knapsack" idea? Or the student who's working for the City of St. Paul and begun teaching her co-workers what she's learning in our technical writing class? Or the student who's started a gay soccer league and wants me to pass out his flyers to students in my Intro to GLBT Studies course?

Today, I'm feeling all the exceptional energy of my work: it's a good day.