查理·米切尔:三十年后仍然对教学充满热情

自从Dr. 查理·米切尔开始在mg冰球突破豪华版下载教书. It’s a job he has been dedicated to for most of his professional life. And even as student personalities and the landscape of higher education have changed, 他对教学的热情并没有减退.

“如果我对我所教的材料不感兴趣, 否则我至少装不出来, 我做得不对,米切尔说. “I need to show that this is important and interesting to me so that at least some of the students might be infected by that – in a good way.”

米切尔从小就对教育充满热情. 他受到父亲的启发, an avid reader who was curious and often learned about different topics. Mitchell said his father never attended college but probably would have loved to if he had the opportunity.

“我小时候就被书包围了,米切尔回忆道, 他带给我的热情成为了我的全部.”

开始他的本科学习, first at the University of Chicago and then transferring to Williams College in Massachusetts for his sophomore year, Mitchell explored several different majors due to his varying interests. 然而，他最终选择了社会学. 这一决定, 他说, was because most of the Sociology classes took place in the afternoon and he struggled with waking up early enough to be in a classroom at 8:00 a.m.

米切尔笑着补充说:“我现在每天8点上课.m. 这是一种回报.”

To help pay his way through college, Mitchell held a work-study job at the campus pub. 毕业后一年, 他继续在The Log酒吧当酒保, a town bar that was run by the college’s food services and also served as its Alumni的房子. 他的第一次教学机会, 高中英语教学工作, 把他带到夏威夷的一所私立学校. 寻求更多的教学机会, Mitchell came back stateside to pursue his master’s degree through Claremont Graduate University in southern California. His initial intention was to go back and teach at the high school level, 但一位“非常有影响力的顾问”鼓励他攻读博士学位, 他也开始考虑大学教书的工作.

Near the conclusion of his PhD work, Mitchell received the offer to teach at 埃尔迈拉大学.

“我很幸运，非常幸运，能得到这份工作，”他说.

当了一辈子老师或酒保, 米切尔笑着承认，这两个领域“奇怪地相似”.” These similarities range from being a good listener and letting people express themselves to interacting respectfully and attentively, 让人们开心, and finding the right balance between giving students what they want and paying attention to what is good for them.

Of course, the lessons from bartending only make up some of Mitchell’s teaching style. He feels fortunate to have had some very influential teachers along his own educational journey to draw inspiration from.

“I picked up things that my teachers did that I find myself unconsciously applying in the classroom, 包括在我学生的论文上写一些奇怪的东西. 在大学和研究生院, 我认为我最好的一些老师是专业的, 还有人际关系和互动,米切尔说. “They weren’t just stand-offish people who were standing up there and lecturing, and then went off to the faculty lounge with their pipes and patched elbows. 他们也是人，对我们感兴趣.”

他开玩笑地补充道:“至少我觉得他们对我感兴趣. 他们可能是装的.”

随着这些年来人员配置的变化, Mitchell has seen his role expand to teaching European history courses, 包括法国大革命, 文艺复兴时期, 和启蒙运动. 这是一个他全心全意欢迎的变化.

“The opportunity to grow and make connections between different historical periods and not be pigeonholed as just the ‘American guy’ has been very valuable and very meaningful to me,他说.

Probably the most rewarding and most meaningful part of the job for Mitchell is hearing the positive impact he has had on a student’s education and overall experience at EC. In fact, he keeps a manilla folder in his office with notes and other mementos.

“It’s still really warming and emotional for me at reunions to have various students say, “见到你我真高兴. 你很重要，”他分享道.

“Even after 31 years – and there’s an awful lot of cynicism and despair and stress about the state of education and higher education – I can still convince myself for the better part of the day, 一天又一天, 这很重要，很值得. And looking out to a room full of students who are very different than they were 10, 15, 20年前, 我仍然可以说, “是的, it was worth getting out of bed this morning and actually putting in some effort for you guys.’ I think my rule is when I stop feeling that, it’s time to go back to bartending.”