As I saunter briskly through my senior year at Champlain College, I ardently anticipate the future while also feeling a sense of nostalgia. I’ve spent my whole life in academia, and while it may not have been pleasant at every turn, I have still developed a love and admiration for education. At the start of a class called Chinese Journeys which I took at the start of my junior year, which I took under the leadership of one Professor Scudder, he expressed to the class his devotion and passion for academics. For it is in here (the classroom) where humans have spent thousands of years expanding and strengthening the minds, he told us. This is why, he explained, he is the most serious educator you’ll have the chance to study under, because to him learning is sacred.
Of all the openings to any class I’ve had in my career as a student, this was among the most inspirational. I have always appreciated schooling, but when he spoke, it was as if we had entered a temple. Preparing to step out of the temple is indeed nerve racking but necessary, but it is my sincere hope I will not let my graduation from Champlain College be the end of my career as a student. Certainly there is graduate school to consider in the future, but for now it is my goal to see what I can do, there will be time for more schooling.
In a decade from now, should I not be part of an academic institution, I want very badly to continue being a student on my own. It is a firm belief of mine that one should strive to learn more and continue receiving an education even if it is independently. A mind is beautiful thing and its capacity to adapt and learn should be taken advantage of and subsequently be awarded. This why I admire Professor Scudder, like many of the other educators I’ve studied under over the years—they’re devotion to academics. It seems like such a natural course to take in life. Why leave school? There’s always more to teach and there is certainly always more to learn.
-Zach
Of all the openings to any class I’ve had in my career as a student, this was among the most inspirational. I have always appreciated schooling, but when he spoke, it was as if we had entered a temple. Preparing to step out of the temple is indeed nerve racking but necessary, but it is my sincere hope I will not let my graduation from Champlain College be the end of my career as a student. Certainly there is graduate school to consider in the future, but for now it is my goal to see what I can do, there will be time for more schooling.
In a decade from now, should I not be part of an academic institution, I want very badly to continue being a student on my own. It is a firm belief of mine that one should strive to learn more and continue receiving an education even if it is independently. A mind is beautiful thing and its capacity to adapt and learn should be taken advantage of and subsequently be awarded. This why I admire Professor Scudder, like many of the other educators I’ve studied under over the years—they’re devotion to academics. It seems like such a natural course to take in life. Why leave school? There’s always more to teach and there is certainly always more to learn.
-Zach