Opinion

Got passion?

Something's missing in our administration

By Kyle Webster

Posted on April 05, 2004, at 12:00 a.m.

Whenever I meet a potential significant other for the first time, I always ask that person one simple question: What is your passion? To me, this is vital. It is what drives a person and what gives a person his reason to thrive and live. By identifying a person’s passion, you can identify where he wants to go, what he wants to do and essentially what type of person he is. It can also be assumed that one’s passion is what he will devote the remainder of his life working toward or for, depending on what it is. With that in mind, it can be assumed that all university professors classify their passion as whatever department and field it is they work in.

It can be said that teachers have passion for children followed by a passion for their subject matter. For professors, this is presumably reversed. Their passion does not lie in the teaching, but rather in the subject. Again, this all assumed.

Here at the University of Maine, I have attended about 28 classes adding up to more than 80 credit hours. That’s 80 hours to be witness to 28 different professors’ drives and passions. The problem is, I’ve only witnessed real passion with maybe three or four of the classes I’ve taken. Several professors at this school seem to barely care about what they’re teaching. Even during office hours, a professor’s chance to discuss candidly what it is that gets him going in his department, several UMaine professors fall short of even showing they care that you showed up.

I don’t expect all college educators to be the best teachers, that’s not their job. Their job is to be experts in their field. Their job is to be driven by anthropology or political science or biology or whatever their subject matter is because that is what they have devoted their lives to.

Amid struggles with parking, funding, consolidation and cut-backs, the administration of this university seem to have forgotten about the one thing that should be at the center of attention: our educators. Students are being pushed away from several classrooms by professors who just don’t care. If the man or woman teaching a class doesn’t care, how can a student be expected to get themselves passionate enough to care. I challenge our administration and faculty to do one simple thing, start caring so that we, as a student body, can continue caring. Figure out what it is that has you in the department you’re in, and get passionate about it. You’re there for a reason, and chances are it’s because at one time you really, truly cared about the subject matter. Find out where that went and get it back; it will make you enjoy your job at this university a lot more.

I know that everyone can’t be the Carons and Evermans that all students run to take classes with, but if you genuinely care about what you’re teaching and have a drive to advance your own knowledge, and the knowledge of the world as a whole within your area of expertise, I guarantee you that I will be running to your classroom ready to enjoy and learn about your passion.

Kyle Webster is a junior journalism major.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 5th, 2004, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.