Dear College Professors

 Dear College Professors (Full-time and Adjuncts),

After year one of a global pandemic that is proving that we still have a way to go as we enter year two of COVID-19, there are some valuable lessons that all educators in higher education should take with them. Some of these lessons should have been learned before you entered the field, but I find that challenging times push many of us to either change for the better or stick to oppressive practices. 

Lesson One: Developing a relationship with each of your students does not weaken you. It does not make you less than. It does not make you less brilliant. It makes you human, which allows you to see the humanity in your students and peers. 

Lesson Two: People have lost loved ones, friends, and family. And are still losing people. Students have lost loved ones to COVID and to gun violence. Just because they are perceived to be adults, does not make the stress of all of it any less potent. This means a rigid syllabus just makes you an asshole. 

Lesson Three: You are the pathway for your students to see the world in a new way. If you are still teaching and using predominately white male scholars in your practice, then they are definitely simply seeing the mythological world and not reality. You must evolve your lens to evolve others. The world is currently a dumpster fire, we need each generation that comes after to know that other ideas, ideologies, and stories exist or else we will cease to exist ourselves. 

Lesson Four: Having empathy and understanding when it comes to students does not lessen your expectations. It does not mean you are playing favorites. It means that you are actually being a teacher, and utilizing differentiation in your practice. Kindness in your practice. Academia does not and should not equal oppressive, patriarchal, and racist practices. It is YOUR class, so do something for good instead of treating the profession as if it is attached to your fucking ego. 

Lesson Five: Find a hobby, a spiritual practice, some friends, a cause, or a combination of any of the aforementioned.  Something that can help you to not take your teaching practice so seriously. It will help you find balance. Look to bell hooks who combined practice, sexuality, intimacy, curiosity, and love into her life. Balanced people are often, balanced educators. And their classrooms are a welcome place for all kinds of students regardless of their learning styles, abilities, or trauma. 

Final Lesson: Always consider the full arc of each student, not just their shortcomings that trigger your bias. This way, when they fall short, or something changes, you will actually notice. And then you can actually see their soul and their intentions, and work with them instead of against them. When you work against them, you are simply either trying to prove that you are right and they are wrong. OR, you are trying to prove that only certain students should be allowed into college, which is probably a bias that was passed down to you. Just because it was passed down does not mean it was valuable or positive.

Please take these lessons into 2022, as we continue to battle another variant, anti-CRT bills, white supremacy, and all those things that can cause anxiety, pain, sadness, and exhaustion for many of our students. As an educator in college, be the light that is so desperately needed. Or not...because lets face it, karma can be a bitch.