I don’t think I need to retraumatize you, dear reader, with a reminder of what ran through our minds when we all realized COVID-19 would stick around longer than an extended spring break. On the cusp of graduation, I don’t know that the specific dread I felt then has ever really left me despite appearances. The anxiety about the job market (still in disrepair), the fear of safe and reliable housing (every month feels like the next equation in a math assignment), and more broadly, the question of whether or not I am working toward a life I really want to live and my ability to do that given the circumstances.
These were the thoughts running through my head as I found out I would be co-teaching UHNR 101 with Dr. Andrew Howe in Fall 2020. It was hard for me to imagine myself as a teacher without a real, satisfying end to my time as a student. I didn’t know how much I could offer because I had not progressed as much as I would have liked to – I work for the same place I did in college and it wasn’t like I could exactly run into the street and acquire new life experiences in a lockdown. I felt like I had no real wisdom to impart as I was waiting for my own answers.
As I discussed the course with Dr. Howe, there were no ways I felt like I could be an aid to the class. Having taught the class for years, Dr. Howe had a streamlined system for the way things would go and I was worried about standing in his way let alone finding a way to contribute. It wasn’t until Dr. Howe asked me to speak critically about the way I formed my worldview that I was able to use the critical thought undergrad had prepared me for.
I, admittedly, am not a very religious person. Spirituality can be a very valuable thing but it is one that does not come naturally to me. So, when thinking about a worldview, my mind turns to the questions I have about myself within society – who I am and what that allows me to do in our world. With the recent protests for Black Lives Matter and the increasing social interrogations that come during an election year, Dr. Howe and I decided it would be important to give space and weight to these matters in the classroom – to let students know from their first class in Honors as a freshman, that their identities and voices are valued and important.
Dr. Howe and I began collecting a variety of different web readings for the class to interact with. We wanted the experience to be refreshing and modern so that our students would feel like effort was made to meet them in their spaces. Two of my favorite readings came from Megan Thee Stallion, the talented rapper I think most of the students knew of, and Jesmyn Ward, a wonderful contemporary author I think more people should familiarize themselves with. These pieces talked about what it means to be a Black woman now, from lived experience. Dr. Howe and I knew that our classroom would amplify voices in their own words, rather than the interpretations of those outside that experience.
Selecting the reading material is just one piece of a larger equation, and I am so grateful to the Class of 2024 for not only embracing discussion but constantly pushing the conversation further. As is tradition in Honors, it was thrilling to see these young minds care so deeply about the world they live in and work to figure out a way to improve it. It did not matter to me whether or not I agreed exactly with every student in the class, but I needed to know that this would not be the first and last time they would engage with today’s issues.
Luckily, that aspiration was quickly fulfilled before the quarter was even over. Elizabeth Paul, current Honors freshman, founded the Political Club partly as a way to continue discussion of our class’ content even further but to branch out further and promote awareness of other issues we may not have discussed, like ballot items and voter eligibility leading up to the November election. I am so happy that students like Elizabeth and the other members of the Political Club use their free time for good and that their fire has not faded even after the conclusion of the UHNR 101 class.
The experience of teaching UHNR 101 is one for which I will be forever grateful. If there’s one source of hope I can give to those lost wanderers like myself, it’s that even through these graceless years we spend trying to find our paths there is so much wonder and greatness that we can stutter and stumble into before we meet our destinations. There is so much that can be done before we even feel like we’ve gotten started.
— Ethan Hoffman (Honors Program Coordinator)