#trust30, day 22
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” is a great line from Emerson. If there’s no enthusiasm in what you do, it won’t be remarkable and certainly won’t connect with people on an emotional basis. But, if you put that magic energy into all of your work, you can create something that touches people on a deeper level. How can you bring MORE enthusiasm into your work? What do you have to think or believe about your work to be totally excited about it? Answer it now.
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After reading this prompt, I spent the rest of the day with the scene from The Untouchables where Robert DeNiro (as Al Capone) says "A man becomes preeminent, he’s expected to have enthusiasms. Enthusiasms... Enthusiasms..." stuck in my head. That's not related to anything.
I'm pretty enthusiastic about work. That's obvious, I think, to anyone who listens to me talk about what I do. I even have data - my students evaluate me on a number of things, including "Instructor has enthusiasm for the course." My scores for this category are, on average, the highest of any I get, just ahead of "Instructor asks challenging problems or questions" and "Instructor has command of subject matter." Apparently, I'm enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and evil. ;)
What can I say? I love physics. I love talking about it. I love thinking about it. I love figuring out hard problems. I love beating my head against a wall until I see what's on the other side. And I get to do that every day. I get to bring that passion to the classroom, and try to help other people see the universe through my eyes, at least a little bit.
Teaching can be frustrating. There's no mistake so simple that a student won't make it, often repeatedly. But on the other hand, there's no insight so complex that some of those same students won't blow your mind with.
And it's certainly draining. By the end of the semester, I'm wiped.
But I get to spend every day talking about something I genuinely love, and I'm constantly learning new things that I want to say.
What more could I want?
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” is a great line from Emerson. If there’s no enthusiasm in what you do, it won’t be remarkable and certainly won’t connect with people on an emotional basis. But, if you put that magic energy into all of your work, you can create something that touches people on a deeper level. How can you bring MORE enthusiasm into your work? What do you have to think or believe about your work to be totally excited about it? Answer it now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After reading this prompt, I spent the rest of the day with the scene from The Untouchables where Robert DeNiro (as Al Capone) says "A man becomes preeminent, he’s expected to have enthusiasms. Enthusiasms... Enthusiasms..." stuck in my head. That's not related to anything.
I'm pretty enthusiastic about work. That's obvious, I think, to anyone who listens to me talk about what I do. I even have data - my students evaluate me on a number of things, including "Instructor has enthusiasm for the course." My scores for this category are, on average, the highest of any I get, just ahead of "Instructor asks challenging problems or questions" and "Instructor has command of subject matter." Apparently, I'm enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and evil. ;)
What can I say? I love physics. I love talking about it. I love thinking about it. I love figuring out hard problems. I love beating my head against a wall until I see what's on the other side. And I get to do that every day. I get to bring that passion to the classroom, and try to help other people see the universe through my eyes, at least a little bit.
Teaching can be frustrating. There's no mistake so simple that a student won't make it, often repeatedly. But on the other hand, there's no insight so complex that some of those same students won't blow your mind with.
And it's certainly draining. By the end of the semester, I'm wiped.
But I get to spend every day talking about something I genuinely love, and I'm constantly learning new things that I want to say.
What more could I want?