3 minute read
Hang Up On Your Hangover
Writen by Sylvie August
Throughout your time in college, no doubt you had some professors that you did not vibe with. Whether you felt burnt out from posting Packback questions every week to get credit or you could not gather the motivation to read that assigned book, sometimes a class just does not work out. However, there are professors at Penn State that inspire students every day to learn and love it.
The Power of Kindness
Anisha Prabhu, a second-year student majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, was inspired by the kindness and approachability of her professor Dr. Garner. Prabhu took Dr. Garner’s CHEM 110 and CHEM 112 classes.
In Prabhu’s opinion, a good professor is kind, approachable and knows how to make their material understandable to students.“A lot of professors are very distinguished in what they do,” she says. “To be able to dumb it down so that students can understand is really good.”
Dr. Garner proved to his students that he could be as approachable as possible.
“During TopHat, he would walk around the room and answer everyone’s questions, so it made him seem on the same level as a TA or LA,” Prabhu says. “There’s a bunch of chemistry professors, but students who had him for CHEM 110 and not for CHEM 112 would go to him even for their CHEM 112 questions.”
Dr. Garner also helps students with academic advising and he attends invitations for meetings to his students’ clubs. “He just helps you with everything, it doesn’t have to be chem-related,” Prabhu says.
Passion and Respect Goes a Long Way
Andrew Moyer, a third-year majoring in film production, admires the passion and respect that his professor, Gabby Sumney, brings to class.
To Moyer, respect is a key component in building a considerate learning environment.
“In general, professors need to respect us the same way we respect them,” says Moyer. Moyer says that he knew Sumney would be one of his favorite professors shortly into the semester. “The passion and what they bring to class is unmatched by any other professor I’ve seen,” he says.
“They love academics, but they always put their students first in every capacity.”
Embodying Empathy
Bella Seastone, a third-year majoring in immunology and infectious diseases, took CAS 100D, a public speaking course specifically designed for students with speech anxiety, with Dr. Miraldi.
“He really focused a lot on making sure we were comfortable and working on techniques that we could use to feel more comfortable, not only in a public speaking setting, but in any anxiety inducing setting,” she says.
CAS 100 is a course that Penn State students know all too well, and one that many students dread taking, but Seastone says that Dr. Miraldi really made an effort to help the students in his class feel more comfortable.
“A lot of professors don’t really care — they know that their exams are anxiety inducing, they know that their class is hard, but they don’t really lay out a way for you to cope with it,” Seastone says.
“He taught us deep breathing techniques or other ways that we could lessen our anxiety, and it was really nice to have a professor that cared about stuff like that … He always made sure he was very available, he said we could always talk to him any time we needed.”
Seastone was struck by Dr. Miraldi’s ability to pay students individual attention at a school the size of Penn State.
“His classroom was a place where I felt like I didn’t have to pretend to be anyone else,” Seastone says.
The best professors, according to Prabhu, Seastone and Moyer, have qualities like passion, respect and empathy for their students.
“[A good professor is] passionate about the content and the students that they’re teaching. It’s a two-way street … We love our professors and they need to love us — that’s the best way to create a safe learning environment.”
