by Cindi Clarke

Created on: February 03, 2009   Last Updated: March 17, 2009

When I started teaching, my students were adults pursuing business degrees to further their careers, in existing jobs or as a second career upon retirement. They worked full time day jobs, many of them had families to support, and knew the demands of going to college at night was going to be grueling. Sacrifices would have to be made - most likely in their personal lives. They were, I thought, motivated students because they had a true desire to learn.

The courses I taught were ones I was passionate about. I brought my own work experiences into the classroom to relate to the course and what they were currently facing or would face. My excitement for the subjects were apparent in my classes and I soon had students taking every class I taught. I was enjoying the "honeymoon" of my first few classes with perfect, motivated students eager to learn.

By the second year I was teaching the honeymoon was over. I was asked to teach at another campus - over a two hour drive away. My classes was scheduled for Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. I had to leave my house at 5:00 a.m. The drive and the hours were an adjustment, but not as much of one as the students I would be teaching.

These students were mostly recent high school graduates, at least 5-20 years younger than my usual students. The first day of class, more than half of the students rolled in more than two hours late. I told them they needed to be on time the next week or they would find the door locked. The following week, there were still some students who found the door locked when they finally arrived. It was no surprise when week three everyone was there on time.

Several students refused to buy the textbook for the class and told me that they had never bought textbooks for their previous classes and that their instructor's had been willing to let them just use notes. I explained to them that my lectures did not include word-for-word reading from the textbooks and that their reading assignments included more than what I lectured. They would be tested on items not just from the lectures but also from the reading assignments, so it was in their best interest to get the books and maximize their learning experience.

That was the first semester that I had to fail a student. I think I took that "F" harder than the student did. It felt like I had failed as an instructor.

Then I had to fail one of my "perfect, motivated" students because he had plagiarized a term paper. Another, a single mother I had been mentoring for several classes, suddenly stopped making the effort to show up for class even though she did the work on time. When I counseled her on her attendance and stressed that her participation in the classroom wasn't just for her benefit but for what she could share with the other students, she promised to do better. She didn't.

Students often think that professors don't care about them and that they just teach because it is a job. But some of us teach because we are passionate about learning and sharing knowledge. Every students' successes are our successes. When a student fails to learn, when they give up, or don't try... it is frustrating for us. We don't want to fail you. We want you to learn. We want you to succeed.

I still have past students who keep in touch. I still mentor them. Counsel them and encourage their passions. I'm still proud of their successes. That is why I teach.

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