Teaching for the Stars

Friday, March 13 th , 2020. That was the last day of in-person classes this semester. Tuesday, September 8 th , 2020. That’s (for now) the first day of classes for the upcoming Fall semester. Yes, that’s almost six months (!) without classes in the traditional sense. Now don’t get me wrong, every decision being made is for the greater good and I’m absolutely on board with doing my part to slow down the spread of this pandemic while we wait for more testing and medical advances. With that being said, this hurts. Every single person is affected by all of this in one way or another. It’s about all of us and I simply want to share my feelings to add an example of the myriad of ways that we are impacted and to hopefully shed light on what others might be experiencing. Here’s the thing: Teaching saved my life. It gave me a purpose, a platform, a passion, and a voice that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else. No matter what stages or levels of anxiety and depression I’ve ...

It hasn’t been that long since the tragedy that took the life of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others, but I’m still in shock. This one really hurt and was the first time I was impacted by the loss of someone I’ve never met. Growing up, Kobe was my favorite player and I rooted for the Lakers simply because of him. Obviously, he gained worldwide fame for his abilities on the court, but I’m not here to talk about any of his stats, championships, or other basketball accomplishments. There are plenty of celebrities – athletes, actors, musicians, etc. – who have become famous and commanded large followings, whether these followings are deserved or not. Our culture has a strange relationship with fame and in the social media age it has become even easier to acquire some level of fame for various good or questionable reasons. And in my quantitative mind, I think it’s reasonable to claim that the impact of our words is proportional to our “fame” or level of follo...