Inspiration: Your Role

What inspires you? Do you enjoy your job?

Several of you wanted to know how your instructors feel about their jobs, if they feel they made the right career and life decisions. And it makes sense that freshmen would wonder how others feel about  life decisions because you are being asked to commit four years (at least) of your life to a course of study. Spending four years learning how to do one particular thing, like become a nurse or an engineer, may seem confining and, frankly, a little scary at times. But the good news is that you can enjoy your job and find inspiration no matter what you do.

For instance, those of us who chose to become college professors often enjoy torturing you with reams of papers to read and write. Making you give a public presentation brings a maniacal gleam to our eyes. A final exam that reveals your acquired knowledge is enough to send us into fits of gleeful laughter. And forcing you to sweat out a B when you would have been happy with a C...well, we actually do get together and party when that happens.

I truly enjoy teaching rhetoric and composition, and I feel most inspired by the fact that I am teaching generations of people how to argue and persuade and communicate well. Many think of an English teacher as someone who teaches grammar or how to write a paper for school, but that is not what the English professors at UTC are teaching. We are teaching you how to present your thoughts and arguments in an impressive and logical manner so that you will be taken seriously and make an impact, no matter what you end up doing with your life. And the same can be said for all of your instructors.

 

That I can be the positive impact in your life is what inspires me. When I see my students thinking critically and creatively and learning to communicate in an impressive manner I find great joy in my job. Even though I did not originally go to college to become an English professor, even though my degree in Clown Science was never put to good use, I enjoy my job immensely because I am inspired by you.

Professor Repentista