Another New School Year

I am one of a small percentage of people who are fortunate in loving our jobs.  On 22 Aug the Fall semester began.  I have a few students I have taught before and a bunch I have never met.  This will be a busy fall. I have a book chapter to finish, a major grant proposal to submit in early October, lots of forms to file, one or two students finishing dissertations, and two or three beginning dissertations.

Ahhh, but (American) football season begins, and the weather turns cool.  Everyone will be excited and full of energy.  Some new students will begin with trepidation, and some veterans will be counting down to graduation.

One of the things I like best about teaching in the University is that I get to start each semester brand new.  I may be teaching the same course I have taught many times, but I get to take a new approach, or use a new technique, or add or subtract some material.  No matter how badly I blew it last term, I get a fresh start each term.

I think my favorite thing is meeting new students.  Every person is a creation of the G^d of the universe.  He made them different, He made them special, and He loves them so much that He was willing to come to earth, suffer and die for them.  And, if I can exert even  a small influence on them, that influence will be multiplied many times over in their lives of influence.

Luke 6:46 says,” Everyone when he is fully trained, will be just like his teacher.”    Ohhh, scary thought.

What do I want them to learn?  I tell each class at the end of the term, “People don’t jump off a bridge because they don’t understand ________ (course subject matter, other than Physics).  I hope you have learned a lot in this class, but as you are going through school think about and learn about what really matters.”  

Matters of the intellect pale into comparison to matters of the spirit and heart.  As Jim Elliot once said so well, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Now there’s a thought of value.