The Difference a Teacher Can Make

If you’ve ever had a teacher who made a profound impact in your life, you know the difference a teacher can make. Here are five students whose college professors have left an impression on them.

1. I saw my communications advisor today. … She greeted me with a hug, and we exchanged some words. I’m glad I decided to stop by her classroom real quick before heading towards my next destination. After that moment, I had a sense of comfort. She had told me that I was being a student, and a good one at that. She always has a way of relieving my worries and fears. It’s a trait that I would like to gain in the near future. To make people feel better through communication. -yosephalexander
2. I’m taking a few upper-level Political Science classes this semester, and one of them is with a male teacher who is obviously very gay. …I realized about midway through my first class, this is the first example I can remember of personally interacting with a successful, intelligent, gay person. I haven’t really had any role models to look up to of what it could mean to be flamboyantly out and successful. …Seeing someone like him gives me a lot of hope and dispels a lot of fears. And maybe when I’m successful in the workforce, there will be a lot more people like him. But mostly I admire him intensely and am going to work as hard as possible to succeed in the class because it immediately feels like a safe zone where I don’t have to worry about gender performance, I can just focus on what I’m learning. - cultureraped
3. I had coffee with my favorite professor from last semester. … He said after students leave his class, they go into one of two categories: the ones he forgets or the ones that will become great friends. And that I fell into the latter category. … Is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship? I think so. - sarahfofara
4. my sociology professor just said that we were all of her shining stars for coming to class today.i feel so special. - sirdaniel
5. Anyone that knows me knows that I lack one thing that keeps me from being great beyond my wildest imagination. That one thing is faith. I lack faith in humanity, I have lost all faith in God and most importantly, I have never had faith in myself. When I look at myself in the mirror, I see mediocrity. I see someone that could never achieve the goals that I have set for myself. … I see a loser. …And, then, I met someone, my mentor, someone who showed me differently. My mentor came in the form of a professor in a class that I thought I was going to loathe. … but I was instantly drawn to this professor’s charisma and love for the subject. Something made me attach to her, talk to her after class was over and I cannot tell you what did it. I’d never really talked to a professor like I talked with this one. She showed her humanity. It was a rare beauty in a college classroom, where you expect the professor to be bland, monotone, indifferent and covered head to toe in tweed. Once the class was over, Doc was going to France, but I made it a point to stop her and tell her that I needed her to mentor me. I told her that I was lost, and that I would love it if she’d meet me for coffee upon her return. She agreed.That trip out for coffee brewed a friendship, followed by the discovery of other young professors drenched in humanity. They also took me under their wings. They talked to me as though I was of them. They made me realize that behind those blue eyes is a world of possibilities that I have yet to tap, but those possibilities are endless. They taught me that while the future is uncertain, it is that way for everyone. I may not be able to achieve my idea of the perfect me, but that if I try, I’ll realize through a little work, I’ll find that I’m perfect just the way that I am. Most importantly, however, they reaffirmed the fact that I am an intelligent capable person-something that I’d long thought were lies based on bully banter that I’d suffered during school and even in college with other professors. They helped me restore some sense of self worth that I’d long lost.

   I still don’t know what my future holds or what I will do, but for now that is irrelevant. The larger picture will come into focus when that time comes, but I have to have faith in the one thing that I have complete control over, myself.

   … [S]he has done one thing for me that I never thought was possible. She ingrained in me the faith that I had lost in myself. It was her purpose in my life. It was to make me realize that the only thing in this world that is holding me back is me. I have to be able to look in that mirror and see someone capable of anything, everything because I am.

   And now, a thank you, to my precious mentor and friend: you’ve taught me more about myself in this one year of knowing me than anyone ever has in my entire life. You have taught me that I can and will move mountains, to be patient, but to never wait. You’ve taught me that I may not be my impossible ideal person, but that if I work hard and try that I will do great things. … Thanks, Doc. Thank you a thousand times across a million miles. - heatherox