Tag: Teaching

MONASTERY

3 months living with Benedictine and Trappist monks – what could go wrong? Years back, in the early-after 9/11 era, I lived with Roman Catholic monks at Benedictine and Trappist monasteries from Canada, to South Carolina, to Massachusetts, to California. I started off the journey with a few weeks at an Ashram in Pennsylvania and finished it at a Buddhist…

IMPACT

The past year, in my life as a professor, I asked myself daily before I walked into each class what my goal was. That kept it real for me. It helped me to get out of my own way, forget my to-do lists, and set the tone for each session. The goal, always, was to engage my students, share knowledge,…

Writing Tips for Professionals

Writing is a part of our everyday lives from early on. We write during our scholastic careers—narrative essays, creative endeavors, research papers, and academic arguments—and we keep on writing as we delve into our professional careers, in the form of resumes and cover letters, and on to corporate and/or creative proposals. Not to mention emails, texts, white papers, and presentations.…

Everyday is a Good Day

At 85 years old, my father reads the Wall Street Journal cover-to-cover daily, sometimes devoting hours a day to perusing through it. He cuts out articles for me weekly: editorials on sports, education, books he supposes I will want to read; commentaries on entrepreneurs, and companies that I have worked with, or for. To me, the articles signify his interest…

Why I Teach

When I am not immersed in my corporate career, I teach college-level composition, literature, and creative writing courses, and have done so for the past 11 years. I take it seriously. Teaching is an opportunity for me to be innovative – one has to be to get twenty-five or so 18 to 22 year olds excited and invested at 8…