Office hours visit...

7 February 2024: Had the best conversation today with a student in my Dickinson seminar. We talked about his paper, the class, his life, where he might be heading career-wise...just everything. And he asked me really interesting and engaging questions about my work and my book. There's such a kindness in that. 

One of the things I keep thinking about since we talked: he says he might be a K12 teacher and I just went on and on about how wonderful he would be. He said he was touched and flattered--and I think he really was. But then he talked about how, as a black gay man, there are so many reasons that he is worried about going into the profession given the ring-wing's current tactics. 

I paused on it and thanked him for telling me that. Easy for me to say, "You'd be so great! We need teachers like you!" without stopping to think about the risk and burden. 

But he is exactly the kind of teacher we need.