Potential

Looking back at my life, at what first made me want to become a professor, and at what I want to do now that I am going to, I realize one word best describes what I see as my focus: potential. I want to help people, groups, and organizations find their fullest, best potential. The courses I first wanted to teach were about helping students see the value of service, but also in seeing the value of knowing what they wanted for themselves. Courses that help students consider their strengths, seeing what those strengths suggest they might pursue as a career, and then using their college courses as a means to get to that career as they build a skillset rather than pass a list of required courses.

That is what I want to do with my life and career. If I can find a way to research it and improve my teaching, so much the better. To me, finding the focus that comes from having a path has a way of energizing people, and afterwards their lives are so much more fulfilling as a result of that direction. To me, that is what my faith has always taught me as well. Finding our full potential is why we are all here. So here's hoping I can make this happen. I know the professors I plan to work with want to help me do just that. What more could I hope for?

-- Robert