With now less than a month remaining in the semester, professors know that helping students finish strong is what’s most important.
The end of the semester can be just as stressful for professors as it is for students. Professors can become stressed, but they want to ensure that students achieve academic success and cross the finish line.
Even though all aspects of the semester are important to students and professors in their own way, many professors view the end as the most important.
Amela O’Gorman, an assistant professor in marketing, emphasized the importance of these final few weeks.
“This is an important time for everyone, especially students,” O’Gorman said. “Staying engaged and supportive right now can make a big difference in how students finish the semester. It’s a great time to help them see how much they’ve learned and how close they are to reaching their goals.
As a Ferris alumna, O’Gorman has found her teaching career at Ferris to be very meaningful.
“I’m actually an alum of the same program I now teach in,” O’Gorman said. “It’s been a full-circle moment for me. Ferris has opened a lot of doors in my life, so coming back as a faculty member and having the opportunity to do the same for current students is really rewarding.”
Professors reflect on the times when teaching was at its hardest, realizing that the rewards at the end are the most significant.
Elisabeth Spinner, an assistant professor in the English, literature and world languages department, talked about a time when the circumstances in which she taught posed significant challenges, but she also reflected on what these challenges taught her.
“One of the hardest times of my teaching career, and probably one many people can relate to, was the pandemic,” Spinner said. “I was teaching, taking graduate classes and my own kids were starting school when COVID-19 first began to spread. I experienced teaching from many perspectives, and one thing that it taught me was the power of relationships and letting people know you care. It was an isolating time, and a simple email or phone call made a big difference. Teaching offers a powerful place to build these connections, and I really value it.”
Even in her first year teaching at Ferris, Spinner has found it to be a teaching experience she’ll remember for the rest of her career.
“A teaching experience that sticks out to me has been an ongoing one,” Spinner said. “I have been continually impressed and inspired by the class discussions students have. There have been multiple times I leave class inspired by the ideas students bring to the class and the conversations they have. It is such a rewarding part of teaching and such a privilege to work with students here.”
What professors consistently observe is that a student’s life consists of more than just school and can be unpredictable in what other hard things are going on in a student’s life.
Sarah Lucas, an assistant professor of philosophy and religions, understands that reaching out to students when times are hard can give them a greater chance of succeeding.
“It can always be challenging when students are disengaged or are struggling with the material in my courses,” Lucas said. “But in these difficult moments, I find it the most important to reach out to these students and see what I can do to better support them. Recognizing that there is more to a student’s life than just the classroom is so important in helping students succeed.”
Students always have the option to reach out to their professors in times of need and may even be surprised by how much their professors care. It can be the start of students realizing that receiving help can play a role in finishing strong.