Comments on: Bragging Rights

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:17:39 +0000

Funny how so many people have inspired us in such different ways (and some not so different).

Allena, you can do it! My lord, look at what you've accomplished already. A masters? Piece of cake for you! :)

By: becky

becky — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:18:18 +0000

I had two professors in college who I adored. I took every course I could with them. One was very encouraging and kind. The other was demanding. I learned a lot from both of them.

Without the demanding professor, I would never have read Proust. I'm so glad I did.

By: allena

allena — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:27:51 +0000

awesome post, thanks for sharing something so personal! I'm working on my masters and it's soooo freaking hard, but I am also inspired by my professors, and I hope to approach next semester more form that standpoint more then from the "omg-this-is-so-hard-why-am-I doing-this" standpoint.

By: Lillie Ammann

Lillie Ammann — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:03:51 +0000

Congratulations to the new graduate and to her proud mama.

By: Susan Johnston

Susan Johnston — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:34:35 +0000

Congrats to your daughter! I had a couple of wonderful professors during my undergrad years at Boston University. Then I did a writing certificate and the professor was so wonderful, he helped organize happy hours to reunite our class so we could catch up on what our former classmates were working on.

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:25:08 +0000

Kelly Seay, a high school English teacher - taught writing, reading, used to complement my efforts which really helped.

Today it's my readers and writing cohorts like you Lori.

By: Jake P

Jake P — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:57:47 +0000

Congrats to the new grad!

On the writing side, it was one of my high school English teachers and two of my college profs. On fostering the mental toughness that successful self-employment demands, it was a combination of my dad (a lifelong entrepreneur) and my college rowing coach -- who pushed me in ways that still startle me, looking back.

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:53:24 +0000

The one person who comes to mind is my high school English and Creative Writing teacher, Christine Swanberg. She left teaching a long time ago to concentrate on poetry. She was the first, and only, teacher who really encouraged me in any subject. She challenged me, too. Without that, I'd probably be a laid-off factory worker today, like so many people in my community.

I run into her every couple of years. Last time, we were both leading writing workshops at the same event and she sneaked in to see the tail end of mine.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:15:33 +0000

One person that comes to mind is my junior high and high school art teacher (same person). He was the type of person that would see the good in anything you drew, provided you made an effort to do your best. A lot of kids had him for art and everyone knew him best for his 'Go, Go, Go!' attitude. He would never let you give up.

There were other teachers that would say nice things just to say them. You could tell they didn't really mean it, but he was different. He would not only say them, but he would go out of his way to make sure YOU saw the good things that he saw.

He didn't just teach you to draw. He taught you to see past the surface to what lies beneath and draw that instead. He always explained that you could draw a person by what you see on the outside. If you knew what made them tick, you could draw a more vibrant picture of them. One that would need no explanation.

I use that in a lot of areas of my life. Whenever I'm discouraged, I can hear, somewhere in the far reaches of my mind, the same voice, of his, crying, “Go, Go, Go!” Basically, saying that I better not give up.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:39:30 +0000

I still have two professors from college in the early 80s with whom I'm in contact on a regular basis. They helped me navigate through turbulent college years and every time I have a success, I can find the seeds of inspiration planted by them.