What I Learn from Students

Wed, 18 May 2011 12:59:00 -0400
leadership-education

I remember when I was a college student hearing members of the faculty and administration talk about how much they had learned from students. I didn’t believe a word of it. It seemed like a throwaway phrase, appropriate to certain occasions but not to be taken literally, much like when someone winning an important award would contend that they had been “humbled” by the recognition.

Now, decades later, I’m genuinely humbled to realize how wrong I was. I learn from UMBC students all the time, and I’m particularly mindful of their lessons this week as some of those who have taught me the most are getting ready to graduate. The truth is that I’m not the complete, polished master of my circumstances that I once imagined most adults to be. Like every other person I know, I’m still learning how to live, and how to be my best self. And students, even (especially?) when they have experienced themselves as underprepared, overwhelmed or confused, have taught me plenty.

The most powerful lessons I learn from students come in two contexts. One is when they navigate everyday challenges on campus: choosing a major and a career path, dealing with an uncooperative peer, striving to build a positive culture within a student organization, balancing conflicting responsibilities. The contours and nuances of these challenges are the stuff of life, not just on campus but everywhere. So when I work with students as they figure things out, I identify strongly with them. Their successes and setbacks help me understand my own. And when despite the uncertainty and ambiguity they take action that is profoundly wise, or courageous, or self-sacrificing, or even just surprising—and this happens every day—I absorb their example.

One of our graduating seniors was (and in some ways still is) a shy person: just like me, especially when I was in college. But from her freshman year, whenever her work in SGA could be advanced by speaking in public—to rooms full of older peers or powerful adults, or to an entire class of new students at Convocation—she faced her fears and met the challenge. Another graduating senior struggled with his choice of a major. Even as he sifted through options and ultimately found his path, he was building an organization to help younger students find inspiration and fulfillment in their education. How could I fail to become a little braver, a little more willing to take risks to support good causes, with people like these showing me the way? And what more valuable lessons could there be than the ones that actually make me a stronger, more capable person?

The other context in which I learn a lot from students is when they share ideas and life experiences different from my own. Their diverse stories are new windows on the world, helping me gain much-needed perspective on what’s happening at UMBC and beyond. For example, after eight years at UMBC I feel quite comfortable and welcome. But students help me see this familiar place through a different lens, and to recognize and address features that can make it difficult for newcomers to feel at home in our community.

So thanks to the many UMBC students who have been my teachers, especially the ones about to graduate. I'm grateful for your lessons, and will carry them with me long after you've walked across that 1st Mariner Arena stage.