Focus on Teaching and Learning
Life's Lessons: Learning From and For Our Journey
Donald Leopold, Distinguished Teaching Professor
Environmental and Forest Biology
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Dr. Leopold made the following invited remarks at the December 1998 ESF Convocation.
Good afternoon Dr. Whaley, platform participants, colleagues, graduates, parents, and friends. First, I'd like to thank my colleagues and students who, in various ways, have made this recognition possible. Because of the individual nature of recognizing teaching excellence it is unfortunate that it is too easy to overlook tremendous efforts of colleagues who are doing innovative teaching and are very dedicated to students. Just on the 3rd floor of Illick I see colleagues who spend so much time with students outside of the classroom and do much to move our students ahead. These countless hours of mentoring don't show up in annual reports but are most importantly reflected in a student's personal and professional growth. These efforts are not unusual here at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
But we can do better. We should not confuse showmanship with being a good teacher. We all have room for improving our effectiveness as teachers. Although I am getting better at responding with more civility to, "Are you busy now?" from students who seem to have a knack for finding me when I'm in my office with other students or colleagues outside of class office hours, I still need to learn to be more patient, among other things.
Yet, students aren't often aware that teaching is but one of many faculty duties. Faculty here are also scientists, engineers, designers, active members of their professional societies, and community leaders. We should engage students more in some of our other activities, like research and public service. Teaching outside of the classroom can be a most effective method of instruction and greatly benefit the student.
With my two children in elementary school, I've thought quite a bit about what makes certain teachers so effective. The traits that make excellent elementary school teachers apply to us in higher education. Students rightly expect us to care, to be interested in them, to help them excel academically and grow personally. We have unique opportunities--and responsibilities--to make a difference to so many lives, so let us rise to the occasion.
There is no better time than today to consider the role of, and sacrifices by, parents and guardians in helping graduating students reach their goals. I can think of no better example than my parents. My father started working at the age of 16 for the same company he will be retiring from next year. His loyalty, tireless work ethic, and willingness to take on any task have been inspirational. And while growing up, I never fully appreciated my mother's interest in all of the things that I collected. She actually seemed to like the butterflies, crawdads, lizards, snakes, salamanders, spiders, fossils, rocks, and plants that I brought home. She let me build and paint dozens of biological models in her living room, and never once acted like my interests were odd to her. And both parents always provided the chemistry sets, telescopes, microscopes, geology sets, and anything else that I had an interest in. As a parent, I don't think there is a more important lesson, than that a child can pursue any dream, big or small.
I would like to acknowledge the role of public institutions in higher education. Public institutions have a unique and essential role in higher education. There is no better example than ESF, with its mission directed towards understanding and bettering the natural and human environments. Here we have the best of both worlds in that students have ready access to an exceptional public institution dedicated to the environment, and to an excellent private institution which with we should be proud of being associated.
I also want to recognize the students here at ESF who are so willing to get involved with activities, even if it wasn't always clear what the results would be. To see students so interested in some of the projects so important to me (for example, the establishment of an arboretum, restoring a small forest stand on campus, assisting the city in assessing tree damage) provides the extra spark. As do the students who are working 20 to 30 hours each week to pay their bills while trying to meet the demands of labs and studios four or five days each week, the single parent-student who is also working and trying to be the best mother or father, and our many "non-traditional" students who have pursued new careers while not knowing with certainty what the opportunities would be. If I had to pick the two most admirable qualities of students at ESF I'd say they are that students here have a very strong work ethic and want to improve the world in some way.
I wonder where many of you who are graduating today started this part of your journey, and where you are going. While growing up, I really wanted to be a medical doctor. So naturally, I enrolled in the forestry program at the University of Kentucky. During my freshman year, I took a course in horticulture and decided the next year to become a landscape architect. However, after taking the entrance exam for this program, I was never invited to become one. During my junior and senior years, while working towards a degree in nursery management, I became determined to establish a plant nursery. Tens of thousands of dollars short, I instead enrolled in the M.S. program in Plant Physiology, but never got very far because the forestry department at Kentucky called me during the summer and asked if I would become a forestry graduate student so that I could teach dendrology laboratory. After two graduate degrees in forestry, I have since been here, where I study old-growth forests, ferns, and butterflies. And I'm still trying to determine what I really want to be. As a student, I could have never mapped out the road to this point. Actually getting somewhere is much more important than the specific path. And there are many "somewheres" that are equally satisfying.
There have been some significant lessons this year from nature, sports, and politics. It has been a year of highs and lows for the community much like the rhythms of the academic and personal experiences that peak today. But our extremes are typically relative to our own experiences. Before Labor Day, being without power for a few hours was an inconvenience. Now it's nothing, compared to being without power for five full days. And at least in Syracuse we didn't have to worry about staying warm following the Labor Day storm as our neighbors to the north did after January's ice storm. No matter how dire the situation seemed to be here in early September, how can we feel too sorry for ourselves when we witness the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch in central America. "Things can always be much worse" sounds so trite but it's usually true.
In late June of this year I read something in the sports section of the paper about a professional baseball player who had just struck out 7 times in 11 at bats during a three-game series; not once did the ball leave the infield. After these three games the player said, "Sometimes you're not very good. That's the way it is." I think most of you have heard about Mark McGwire's accomplishments during this past baseball season. Going through graduate school, I wanted to be like all of the 10 or 20 of the top people in the field of forest ecology. One advantage of getting older is that you slowly realize such composite role models cannot be emulated. As we raise expectations of ourselves based on our role models, we must examine the whole person in short and long time spans to maintain a healthy perspective and establish realistic goals.
The New York Yankees reminded us about the importance of team work. Best team of all time? Perhaps, but few all stars, at least this past year. Yet every member of the team had a key role at some point.
Earlier this semester, a student at SU was asked to select the highlight of his years here and he responded that going to graduation and having his parents celebrate the occasion would easily be the most important event. Perhaps this statement would seem more ordinary if not made by Donovan McNabb, Syracuse University's quarterback, who enjoyed a number of other high points here. I hope that you also realize the significance of this event in your life.
What is the most important lesson from politics this year? That no matter how ambitious, smart, and visionary you are, it's how you treat people and how you set in motion your ideas that are most essential.
In closing, I'd like to share with you a few thoughts that I have reflected on over the years.
Deal with people honestly
Fiercely protect your integrity; although you can apologize for anything, people may never trust you again.
Find something that you immensely enjoy doing; professionally, personally
A number of my graduate students have given up past successful careers in order to pursue a profession that allows them to strengthen their connection to the natural world. It's easier to excel if you really like what you're doing. Get a hobby that you can avidly pursue.
Learn to juggle
Take on various activities. Some will sustain you when less interesting duties associated with other tasks are necessary. Overall, you'll have a richer life and contribute more to your community.
Be a team player
Work with others whose strengths complement your weaknesses and vice versa. Figure out what your role is in life's orchestra. Every role is significant, regardless of pay or responsibilities.
Take risks
Challenge yourself regularly to take on something that could fail despite your best efforts. If you succeed, you'll be better prepared for the next challenge you didn't want; if you fail, you'll more likely succeed the next time because of what you learned from the failure.
Just do it
It's unfortunate that advertising has trivialized these simple words. Don't wait to be certain of something before you take action - often you'll miss that unique opportunity. Quit agonizing over what to do.
Be persistent
Few significant accomplishments happen without long-term commitments.
Nurture something
Grow a garden, mentor someone, raise a child. Such experiences force you to look beyond yourself, and can profoundly affect others. Volunteer often to do something that improves a family, a neighborhood, a larger community.
Examine the lessons from nature
Lower and higher life forms are interdependent, their relationships with the environment very complex, and destinies only roughly predictable. Sometimes millions of years of evolutionary pressures don't pay off because an organism is simply not in the right place at the right time. Sometimes no matter how hard you prepare for something, unpredictable events can divert you. Often these diversions are rich opportunities to follow. Whether you know or like any tree, visit the giant sequoias and redwoods in California. As you stand near these trees that are the Earth's largest living things and have lived 1000s of years, contemplate on what man's role should be in this world.
Escape, at least briefly, but often
Spend 15 - 30 minutes each day undistracted by others, other objects, the media. Reflect on the day behind, dream of the days ahead.
One last thought, make sure you pass your final exams.
Congratulations, and good luck on the next part of your journey.
Thank you.