Some words of encouragement

Earlier this evening we had our annual faculty appreciation party where all the professors who taught first year students were invited to the plaza for food, conversation, and the handing out of awards to those who were voted the most popular among the students. Afterwards I went to the gym and when I returned from the gym I found myself once again in the all too familiar position of receiving an email telling me the company I was waiting to hear back from had decided to go hire another candidate.

I felt frustrated because I had spent all that time preparing for this particular interview and it got me nowhere. It was as if all the work that I had done was for nothing. During dinner, I thought about the situation a bit more and noticed a parallel between what I felt and something I had observed earlier at the party. There was a professor who teaches a custom core class who was there but did not receive an award. I am not sure if the organizers of the event did anything to smoothen out the awkwardness of professors attending and walking away empty handed but I felt bad for the guy. He’s not a bad instructor. It just happens that he’s not popular with students partly because he is shy, speaks with an accent, and tells jokes that may be funny in his own culture but most students just don’t find to be all that funny.

After dinner, I wrote him an email. I didn’t say anything about him not getting an award but mentioned that I saw him at the event and didn’t get the chance to talk to him because I left early. I told him I liked his class a lot and still remember his jokes and find them funny. I told him to tell more of them to next year’s incoming class.