Starting my career, I needed the right answer to three questions:
On a warm autumn afternoon, I navigated across campus to hear student feedback regarding a policy I had implemented as the Social Work Program Director. Upon entering the classroom, it became evident that this was no ordinary student feedback session. The desks had been arranged conference style resembling a long rectangle with students along each […]
For several years, I have taken a step of faith and started the first day of teaching by identifying as a Christian. This is for my own accountability since it makes me keenly aware that my behavior is linked to my identity as a follower of Jesus. I explain to them that because I follow Jesus, […]
In a recent presentation given at Cal Poly, one of the questions that was asked of the faculty attendees was, “How can we measure success?” Number of publications High teaching evaluations Grants These were some of the answers that emerged. But to my surprise, one of the professors answered, “Free time.” That was such a […]
Academic conferences. Man… I hate those things. I’ve been told that conferences are places for networking to advance my career. I never could bring myself to network with this intent – it felt disingenuous and exhausting. Time after time, I felt that I failed with every attempt. However, an academic conference I attended this summer […]
Ever since I accepted Jesus as my Savior in 2013, God has been revealing His love, power, and faithfulness to me. I would like to share how He helped me with my first National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. By the summer of 2016, three years after becoming a believer, God had already set me […]
Last summer, a Christian colleague encouraged me to share my story of trusting Jesus Christ on MeetTheProf.com. MeetTheProf is a website for Christian professors to write about their faith journeys and other information about themselves, making it easy to share the link with their students and colleagues. I liked the idea of having my profile […]
To survive in academia, it is required that a professor become a good manager of his or her time. Unfortunately, faculty are often asked to do more than they have time to do, and they become sorely tempted to drop “unnecessary” activities from their schedules, especially those that entail regular time commitments with no clear […]
“Trust more in God’s ability to speak to you than in your ability to hear from him,” my pastor said. Little did I know that God would speak to me through a foreign language when I wasn’t able to hear him with my own. Since the start of high school, I had been a serious […]
Recently retired from academia, I’d like to offer a few suggestions for the young Christian faculty who are taking my place. Jesus has placed you in your academic position, and it is your mission field. He is there with you to be a light to your students and the entire academic community. I’d like to […]
