Hello from Cracker Barrel,
I am trying to remember the first time I went to a Cracker Barrel. I think it was when I lived in the Detroit area, and perhaps I was on a short vacation to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. While this might be a surprise, that particular National Park is the most visited in the country. What I appreciate about Cracker Barrel is breakfast (and yes, the Country Store). I am a breakfast person, which I think is because the memory of breakfast is such an important aspect of my pre-school years. Two softly poached eggs, a piece of fresh bakery toast with homemade jam, and a half of pink grapefruit will always be my comfort food of choice. My grandmother would fix that many mornings for both my sister and me. Memory and the recollection of things are such a significant part of identity, but I believe it is the emotions connected to those memories, those reoccurring events, that make them the most powerful.
And connected with those emotions are the additional senses that only add to the pathos that is such an important part of myself – the place and my visual recollections, the smells, including the heating that travelled through the floor vents, the kitchen and food always prepared with a significant dash of care, and the sounds of her in the kitchen, pots, pans, a tea kettle. It is quite amazing how all of it coalesces into an emotional experience that provides such hope. I am unsure of just what it is that causes an unexpected flash, a seeming millisecond, that synapse that brings something from the recesses of our memory, making it as clear as if it were yesterday. And yet, the moments occur, sending ourselves, our emotions, back to that moment, perhaps like a backwards Deja vu, and seemingly experiential familiarity with something. However, such moments are substantive, reminding me of those people, those events, those places that are central to my identity. Additionally, much like the connecting of data points in our rapidly evolving AI world, I am able to make the connections and understand my actions or emotions much more accurately.
As I seeming fly through the last year here at the university, my thoughts pan over the last thirty years of teaching. If I consider my own trajectory, I would like to believe I am a much better professor than I was in that first teaching position. While I liked being in the classroom, I remember calling my undergraduate advisor the first time I assigned a failing grade to a student’s semester. I was devastated. I felt as if I had failed, and probably to some degree, I had. I still feel that today when someone fails my course. I wonder what I could have done differently, what I should have done differently. Of course, I am keenly away they have a role in it also. More importantly, as I move toward next summer, I find myself wondering about past students, where they are; how they are; what has become of them. I am fortunate enough to be in contact with students from my very first year until even last year. While I do not know how many students have been in my classrooms over the past three decades, I do know that some of those students are now middle-aged. That is stunning to me, because there are moments I want to believe I am still middle-aged – I guess not so much, or I would not be retiring. While I could write about dozen of them, there are a handful that seem worth noting in this post. In my first year at Suomi College, there was a group of students who welcomed me and one whom I believed from the outset would eventually be a pastor. For me, not surprisingly. that happened. In fact, he would attend Dana, where I took him to visit. He and his family were beyond gracious to me. The RA of the floor that year now works where I would return to graduate school and has a significantly important administrative position. In fact, I met with him when I took my current colleague’s son to Michigan Tech and the three of us had coffee together. There are others who have been gracious even to this day noting that that campus pastor and instructor were important to them. During my time at Michigan Tech, where I was a graduate teaching instructor, what I find interesting is the relationships that have endured where more with the staff or faculty, though some of those students are still in contact with me also. In fact, one, who has traveled the world, and is now back in the Keweenaw, chatted in passing just yesterday.
Moving into my first tenure track position was a shock to me, in spite of my being an older first year professor, I do not think I was any more prepared than most, and I think my age ended up as more of a liability than an asset. If it were not for a colleague, who is still my colleague 20 years later, I am not sure I would be teaching. There were two students that first year who had a profound influence on my trying to navigate being a professor, whatever that would mean. Ironically both of them had small children and were trying to manage being a single mother and completing their degree. I am still in touch with one, and was in touch with the other until politics and a 2020 election broke that (which is still a painful thing). It is hard to imagine these students are almost forty years old. There are two more students, one who hoped to go to medical school and one who is now an art teacher, both are mothers and fabulous at what they do. They were dedicated, intelligent, and that shows through yet. They are a blessing in my life in ways too numerous to count. There were also faculty colleagues who worked with me during that six years, individuals who to this day bless me by their support and care. One is the most incredible artist/photographer/talented person I have ever met. Ironically, we began our academic journey there together, but it is since I left I have really gotten to know them. Another, who has since passed helped me move on from there and supported me as I left. Without his care and counsel that year, I am quite sure my life would have taken a very different path. The third, continues to be colleague in my present position. Their influence on my life both inside and outside of the academy cannot be measured. In them I have an incredible colleague, a best friend, and a brilliant and insightful person unlike anyone I have ever met. There are no words adequate to explain what they did and continue to do for me.
It was in coming back to Pennsylvania that I finally understood what being an effective professor/mentor/advocate really required. It was through the mentoring of colleagues here, seeing a culture that allowed academic discussion, and participating in the spirited conversations about both scholarship and pedagogy that I finally learned what being in the academy meant. Much like understanding how systematics had relevance to the parish, I learned how scholarship, which might seem esoteric, established a foundation for what I did in my daily class. I am as grateful to a former passing colleague (I assisted them in getting a position in my old department, but they were coming as I was leaving) as they have noted they are to me. They turned me on to a scholarly article titled “Claiming an Education.” I have continued to use that article ever since. One of the most significant phrases in the article speaks about “fostering intellectual curiosity.” Make yourself question. Require your mind to struggle with what lies beyond the obvious. Since the first fall of teaching college students, thirty years ago, I have been blessed by some incredibly talented people, students who are now successful as managers, supervisors, mentors as well as amazing parents, community members, and some who own their own companies. Some work for Fortune 500 or even 100 Companies. If the changes from freshmen to seniors was profound, what they do and who they are now is sometimes even beyond their wildest dreams, but they did it. How, sometimes by hard work and grinding away, sometimes by being in the right place at the right time, and yes sometimes unexpectedly, but through taking a change. The claiming of an education does not stop when they graduate; instead it is the beginning of a new education or a more continuous process through which they evolve. Additionally, there are the roles outside the classroom, from advising to being a faculty advisor for student groups. There are working to help students develop as they debate, travel abroad, or supervising internships. There is the reaching out to students when they are struggling or life is collapsing around them. All things that my former life as a parish pastor taught has served me well.
There are times I have asked them to come back and present, and I am both astounded and pleased by the professionalism they exhibit. I think of one student who ended up working in the area of health communication, and it was not what they hoped to do. In fact, they actively tried to change, but their innate ability to be effective and successful kept them in that area. I believe they are still there. I have watched students meet others, fall in and out of love with another. I have observed their profiles and see how they grow and flourish. It is always gratifying to see them transform from that questioning and somewhat overwhelmed 18 year old to a pharmacists, attorneys, teachers, managers, and some even eventually a professor. I could write a book just about students, but undoubtedly, I would leave something important out, a person would be overlooked. Each time I sit down, another person, another story comes to the fore. What I know now, the opportunity to be in a college classroom has been as profound a gift, albeit in different ways as being a parish pastor was. The change to make a difference is always there, and many times, the awareness that it occurred is not so apparent. And yet, the inquiry, the questioning, the imagining that occurs everyday has been something that keeps me going. To each and every student, thank you for blessing me over these many years.
Thanks as always for reading.
Dr. Martin
thewritingprofessor55 
In a nutshell, it sounds like you’ve had an interesting journey, and your students might appreciate your guidance. Here’s to the years of making a difference in the lives of those you’ve taught.
The support from colleagues and the impact in and out of the classroom are noteworthy. Your insights into the evolving nature of education and the continuous claiming of it are worth considering. Your experience as a pastor has influenced your mentorship and advocacy for your students. The diverse paths your students have taken post-graduation, from health communication to teaching and such, is something to note. Seeing their success in various fields must be interesting.
In a nutshell, it sounds like you’ve had an interesting journey, and your students might appreciate your guidance. Here’s to the years of making a difference in the lives of those you’ve taught.
Dr. Martin,
I like what you said about memories and how they connect to our identity. As you know, from my Google Map, I remember two of the biggest events that occurred in my childhood. Even just days ago, I was speaking to my mother, as we stood in the kitchen, and I rambled off things I remember from those days. It is crazy how moments like that stick with you. They become part of who you are.
I admire how much you care about your students. I mean, most professors probably do not want to see students fail their course, but you take it personally, which I think is something that most would not do. Most would probably not think about their past students. You take the time to get to know your students, and you pay attention to the things they do and say.
When it comes to the “Claiming an Education” article, I appreciate that you had us read that. It changed the way I thought about my education. Before college, I knew what I needed to do to get the grade I wanted. After reading this article and hearing you speak in class, I realized that I should be doing better for myself. I cannot grow if I do not put in the effort to make assignments the way I want them to be. In elementary school, I was often called a “try-hard,” and for some reason, I took it to heart. That was really when I started to do what I needed to do to get the grade. I learned to get good at doing next to nothing and getting an A. Reading this article helped me realize that it is okay to work hard and put effort into the things I do. I am allowed to, and should, put my best effort into every assignment I do.
As always, thank you for writing this post!
Dr. Martin,
The sudden recollection of core memories brought about by experiencing a similar feeling or sensory cue is something I think we all experience. The event recalled usually seems to be something we hold nostalgia for, which at my point in life is when I was a child. I would expect that come impactful memories even as we are further along in life cause the same phenomenon. It is only natural to consider whether you are the cause of a nostalgic Deja-vu moment for others. I am sure you have interacted with, and had huge impacts on, your students you have mentored in your career.
It makes me wonder what kind of impact I have had on people I have mentored in the short time I have been in a position to do so, as well as anyone in the future. I don’t see myself being in a traditional mentor role like a teacher or pastor but I hope that I can have such a positive impact on my peers that they can look back fondly on at that time in life. Maybe not quite as nostalgic as family cooked meals but in some place of relevance.
This was a deep thought experiment to consider when very superficial things, like finding a job or buying a car, are at the forefront of my mind.
Galen,
Thank you for your response to this blog. I think there are many times we have the opportunity to make a difference for others, but we seldom realize it or seize that moment. I have been blessed to be in positions most of my life where I am in front of people, where I am in charge of something, where I have the resources and platform to do something of importance. That is not anything I expected growing up. Although, to be truthful, I had little idea what I would do, or if I had any possibilities. It is in my piety as a former Lutheran pastor to believe that God often puts us in a place to make a difference. And yet, we do not always see that opportunity.
Thank you for your post.
Dr. Martin
Dr. Martin,
I think it’s important to be able to remember things that happened in your past life because those memories are what led you to this moment in time. You have had so many experiences and memories that make you who you are and that goes for anyone. The first memory that you can remember is the kind of breakfast that your grandmother made. That memory is important to you because it reminds you of your grandmother and how important she is to you and how that breakfast is still your favorite today. My first memory is when I picked out my first dog for my family. I could remember it like it was yesterday and that memory is important to me because it was the first time I felt love from a dog and that’s where my love grew for all dogs.
Sometimes I worry that I won’t be able to remember the things that are important to me, but I think that if they were that important I won’t forget them. Everyone has memories that are important to them and I feel like it’s important for people to share those memories with others because then they can understand how you felt in that moment. As always, thank you for sharing and have a great week.
Abigale Motto
Dr. Martin,
I find that your journey as both a professor and as a young child, as you have shared with me before, to be awe inspiring. Your relationships that you have built and maintained over your many years as a professor are a true testament to your strengths in this field. That is also to say that losing relationships during this journey is certainly a part of the process, and every single relationship, lost or not, has clearly molded you as a person. I am happy to see the reflection you’ve had on your journey throughout your lifetime. I find your mention of students very fascinating, seeing that some of your earliest pupils still return to have conversations and share their life experiences with you. This is something I have rarely heard students do, at least within my classes thus far at the university, and find their return to you so fascinating. The marvel of students having such loyalty to a professor showcases the memories that you have given them and highlight the lessons you have taught them.
For me, it was always a challenge to maintain relationships after moving away from the United States. Many of these relationships fractured because of the distance we had been pushed apart, unable to repair the crack in communication after my return. I find that has molded my perspective of relationships and how they are viewed in a more negative light, unfortunately. I find that I often view relationships as temporary, and consider the lives of individuals independent, not intertwined, with mine. I find the connections you keep with you after such a long time to be inspiring; they will me to maintain my relationships as best as I can and ensure that I can spend every moment with the people I cherish. Thank you for helping me realize this.
With gratitude,
Hunter Ter Horst
Dr. Martin,
I find it fascinating how much one sensory cue can bring about such a wide array of emotions, thoughts, and nostalgic experiences. The world and times in which we live and the environment in which we grow creates a kaleidoscope of different attitudes, personalities, and ambitions. I am sure throughout over 30 years of teaching, you have seen a wide variety in the students that you have helped teach and mold. What an opportunity and blessing you have had and continue to have as you watch these identities blossom and ambitions and careers come to life.
I have certainly come to appreciate just how much having a solid mentor in my life has allowed me to grow in so many ways. My greatest mentors in life have always been my parents. They have had the opportunity and quite possibly more the unfortunate case of watching me grow to become the man I am today. They instilled in me a similar “grind it out” work ethic in many ways. Both my father and mother had to start from the bottom and work their way up to provide for me. Through their mentoring and love, I am very blessed to be where I am now. Thank you for providing mentorship and guidance to so many students throughout the years,
Sincerely,
Brett Snyder
Dr. Martin,
I find It interesting how you open this blog post by talking about breakfast. I wanted to respond to this post because I am very into food and I like to eat. While I don’t think this is the main point of the blog. I think it can still be talked about In a way that shows how the world has changed. You talk about how you have a specific breakfast you remember and It is tied to your emotion. I believe that now most people do not have time to have breakfast or the ability to make emotional connections to things. In this blog, you bring up mainly that people’s emotions are connected to memories they have and that emotions and memories can play big roles in people’s lives.
I think that this blog says a lot about the world, It shows that even through time people can still connect. The memories that we make can help us maintain relationships. Reading this blog made me realize how important it is to make connections because they can create something that can last. These connections that create memories can have a lasting impact on people. That is why I think it is important to go out and get to know new people because it could help you create memories that help you grow as time passes.
I think this blog says a few things about your perception of the world. You talk about the specific connection you made with people and how they affect you today. It seems that you view the world as a place of opportunity to create memories. The memories you make help you grow as a person and learn things along the way. This benefits you and creates the person you are today. I hope to create connections and learn a lot from you for years to come.
Thank You,
Gregory Kepic
Hello Dr. Martin,
I think that your post is interesting in its scope. People we will touch in our lives will span many ages, locations, and backgrounds. Just as you have described, some students who left an impact on you, and you left an impact on, are now middle aged, while you still interact with students in University. I think it is interesting how many different interactions happen at different points in both our lives and the other’s life. Sometimes we as young people leave an impression on those older and wiser than us. Sometimes it is the other way around. Sometimes a young person leaves quite an impression on another young person, and sometimes with the older to the older. Something we often can’t choose in the things that we leave with others, so we should try to leave as much good. The foul words or hurtful bursts may be quickly forgotten by the speaker, just as the quick words of wisdom or kindness, though both may last in the listeners mind much much longer.
I think your recounting of your experiences with others ties well into the idea of claiming an education and continual growth. I think about how much experience that I have as a 20 year old, and how every single person I meet has that much experience or more. Its somewhat overwhelming to think about how many lifetimes we interact with on a daily basis, and it makes me try to appreciate what I can learn from others. I read somewhere that if you want to grow when discussing difficult topics, you must realize that “the other person has something you can learn from them”. I believe this applies to every interaction and every person, and sometimes I forget this.
Emerson Grier
Hello Professor,
Honestly, your post really spoke to me as the mindset reflected here really responds to my everyday life. Even though I am still very young (at least in the scope of all things) I tend to look back and try to appreciate every situation I have been put through. Whether its the people that I have met, the experiences I have had, or even (as you put it) the “backwards Deja Vu” when I come in contact with a familiar scent or sight of my past. Despite having much less life experience than some others, I still feel that classic sense of nostalgia when looking upon my past. It has truly been a wonder and delight knowing that, despite all odds, I was able to meet and talk with the people that I have been able to and that I might’ve influenced their journey through life even the smallest bit. I am definitely an overthinker and like to spend my free time in deep contemplation of the world around me. From speculating on the thoughts and beliefs of a person that I may have only just come in contact with, to the small consequences of our little and everyday actions towards the people we spend life with. One of my great joys in life is to try to find little signs of how people might be truly feeling behind the outward expressions of contentment. Often times, people (especially in the United States) don’t really like showing their true emotions. Unless you really know a person, they often aren’t to transparent. I feel as if I’m rambling now so let me tie this all back in.
In this post, you say how much you enjoy connecting with people from the past. One of your joys in life is to see how the people that you’ve influenced grow up and (in the best cases) become the person that you have seen them to be from the beginning. In a similar vein, one of my greatest joys in the world is to look at someone as who they are right now. What they are going through, their reactions to their unique circumstance, and how they choose to grow from it. I think that, later in life, I will definitely share the same joy that you have right now. My current view of seeing the beauty of life as it transpires will shift ever so slightly into being there for the past and seeing how it changed the person.
Thank you for your post and insight, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Alex
Dr. Martin,
I also like breakfast and I connect it to my childhood. I remember my parents making me big breakfasts, sometimes before school, but they rarely do that anymore. I also get nostalgia of my great grandma making me food in her run down house whenever I smell something she would’ve made me today. Certain smells remind me of feelings I’ve had in the past, but I usually can’t remember the event that is associated with that smell.
It is very helpful to have close peers and friends in your field. Whether they have less or more experience than you. It’s comforting to have others lost with you or help guide you. I can’t imagine what it is like to mentor others and leave lasting effects on them. I hope in the future I will be knowledgeable and skilled enough to be a mentor to others in my field.
Grace D’Agostino
Good Evening Dr. Martin,
I found this post to be very interesting. It’s fascinating how sensory processes can bring us back to certain moments in time of our lives. It was intriguing to read about your experience as a new and inexperienced teacher to now having thirty years of experience in education. I have never thought about professors feeling that way after giving a less-than-ideal grade. It makes perfect sense why a first-year teacher might feel that way.
It was interesting to see that you are still in communication with students decades after having them in class. I feel it can be helpful to keep in contact with those who have helped form you as a student so early on in your career and entry into your field. Thank you for sharing your insight.
Good evening, yet again, from my boyfriend’s house. It seems we have come to the end of this course since the last day is tomorrow. This course, while short, will remain with me throughout life.
It is wild to think that people we run into because of our profession, training, or hobbies end up becoming people that will have an impact on our lives forever. I danced for 13 years and taught at the dance studio during that time and there are many kids that will forever have an impact on me. They made me realize what it means to be a leader and a teacher. I learned as much from them as they learned from me. I taught them how to be better dancers and they taught me how to teach and interact with the younger population. I hope that I had as much of an impact on them as they had on me.
I have met and interacted with many people in my life time and I will meet plenty more people. I am still young and learning and experiencing new things. I am sure I will more people that will have an impact on me and I also hope I meet people and have as much as an impact on them.