A Professor Above Others

There's a professor at my school of whom I am fond. She's brilliant in her field (she's a social psychologist who has been treating first responders from 9/11 for the last decade) and loves to teach (she's been a professor at my school for 36 years). She did my independent study over the summer and allowed me to do another one this semester on trauma since the school isn't currently offering any classes. She then changed our senior seminar to incorporate aspects of trauma...and she did that for me. She asked me to TA for her as well.

Today, this professor sat me down and told me she had breast cancer. Prognosis is good - it's stage 1. No other students know and only 2 faculty. She is taking a month of medical leave at some point for radiation and surgery and wants me to keep the class moving along at the correct pace while she's gone. 


A few hours ago, she sent an email thanking me for being available to her and reminding me to slow down so I won't get sick and burn out. With everything she's dealing with today, she took the time out to do that.


I am honored by this woman's trust and attention. In class, she puts a lot of effort into truly preparing students for the aspects of this field they're interested in (social work, clinical, etc) and will help students out. She knows this is not a challenging curriculum for me and works to find other ways to make this engaging. There are teachers you never forget - this is one of them.