Unless you went to school with me at some point and want to compare your teacher memory with my teacher memory, my advice is that you quickly scroll down the list below and simply appreciate its length.
At the bottom, I’ll share one brief insight about the list and then one Small Story about a particular teacher on the list.
Bobby’s Teachers
(Note: I list each teacher once even though some taught me for more than one semester/year. Also, I can’t (quite!) remember all of them.)
Elementary
K - Mrs. Laczenchek
1 - Mrs. Tarr
2 - Mrs. Mallott
3 - Mrs. Suer
Middle
4 - Mrs. Owens and Mrs. Veeser
5 - Mrs. McGlynn and Mrs. Brockmeier
6 - Mrs. Sanders
7 - Ms. Chapman, Mr. Gaines, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Wilhelm
8 - Mrs. Miller, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Furlong
High
9 - Mrs. Conn, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Dobranski
10 - Mr. Felzcan, Ms. Browning
11 - Mr. Siler, Mr. Counts, Ms. Lyons, Mr. Ritz
12 - Ms. Bolton, Mrs. Briggs, Mr. Killeen, Mrs. Smith
College
Freshman - Drs. Williams, Ahrensdorf, Snyder, Meacham, MAJ Geiger
Sophomore - Drs. James, Smith, Lerner, Berkey, Partin, CPT Leslie
Junior - Drs. Miller, Lewis, Sachs, Wertheimer
Senior - Drs. Campbell, Barnes, MacMillan
(Davidson College)
Graduate School
Drs. Meye Thomspon, Thompson, Anderson, Shuster, Brown, Butler, Bradley, Dufault-Hunter, Stassen, Muthiah, Lau Branson, Whitesel, Augsburger, Rohr, Mouw, Willimon, Pederson, Scholer, Clark, Gibbs, Goldingay, Karkkainen, Frederickson, Hagner, Peace, Woodberry.
Bottom Line: there is simply no such thing as the self-made person. I have listed dozens of names, and those do not include my parents, family, coaches, Sunday school teachers, and various tutors and mentors along the way. Nor, by the way, does it account for the fact that each of the people on my list have a significantly long list of teachers themselves.
It is nothing short of stunning, inspiring, and deeply humbling to see the people whose lives have loved us into being and made us who we are today.
My deepest thanks to all who are on this list - the named and unnamed alike.
Who’s on your list?1
What does the list mean to you today?
In what ways does your life honor the gift given?
—
A Small Story about One on My List: An Econ Teacher who Broke the Norms of Supply and Demand
I took three courses from Dr. Kessinger2 in high school - one in global perspectives and two in economics. And each class began the same way.
He stood tall with the class roster in hand, peered over his reading glasses, and spoke the first name of each student, one at a time.
(Photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash)
“David.” He looked to his right where his seating chart had assigned David to be. David nodded.
“Danny.” He looked at the desk right behind David to see Danny in the seat assigned to him. Danny nodded.
“Jennifer.” She was seated behind Danny. Another nod.
“David. Danny. Jennifer.” As he repeated each name, he would look directly at the person being named.
A smile.
A kindness.
His brain actively working to download the names.
“Christie.” She was behind Jennifer. A nod.
“David. Danny. Jennifer. Christie.”
Dr. Kessinger went through all twenty-plus names in this same deliberate manner. When he reached the very last person, he returned to David and began again - one at a time - until he could could say every name aloud without looking at his seating chart.
In fact, we were given no guidance about the class structure, the syllabus, or any measure of actual content until Dr. Kessinger completed this exercise to his full satisfaction.
At first, it felt strange.
Shouldn’t we do something school-ish?
Do a brief introduction of the course?
At least pull out the textbook?
Years later, I realized what was going on.
Names before knowledge.
Belonging before books.
People before purpose. (Or perhaps - people are the purpose).
Today, I recall very little about the particulars Dr. Kessinger taught me over the course of a couple years.
Generally, I recall many supply-and-demand graphs.
And I remember learning about opportunity cost for the very first time.
Mostly, though, what I remember clear-as-day is that the supply of intentional, personalized attention-and-care that he gave to us was abundant on the first day and then maintained throughout.
And even though he graded pretty tough, that amount of care always meant the demand for his class was high.
This broke entirely the economic rule that high supply = low demand. The things of love, of course, are beholden to a different kind of math.
And, yes, there was surely an opportunity cost for taking most of the first day of class to memorize names - but studied economist that he was, I imagine Dr. Kessinger knew some investments are better than others. And some, even, pay off in multitudes unimaginable even by the best economists.
For instance, here I write this story twenty-five years later.
Deeply moved by the gift he gave.
Deeply inspired to give it back in the settings in which I serve.
And wondering often if - in a society ravaged by isolation, hyper-individualization, and division - his simple exercise may well contain our singular seed of hope.3
And if you haven’t considered the teacher/mentor/people-of-note-in-your-life list in some time, perhaps it is an opportune time to try the exercise below. It’s one that Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently shared in his interview on OnBeing with Krista Tippett.
Dr. Murthy says, I’ll share with you something that I do in my own life, a tool that I reach for when I’m having those moments where I feel alone or I’m starting to feel the despair creeping in. And it’s very simple. It takes about 15 seconds.
So just raise your right hand and place it over your heart and close your eyes.
And I want you to think about the people who have loved you over the years,
the people who have been there for you during difficult times, who have supported you without judging you, and who stood by your side even when it was hard.
Think about the people who have celebrated your moments of greatest joy with you, the people who saw your successes as theirs, the people who derived such pleasure and fulfillment from seeing you happy.
Just feel their love flowing through you, lifting you up, brightening your mood, and filling your heart. And know that that love is always there, even if they are not physically with you, because you carry that love in your heart.
And know that you are and always will be worthy of that love. It came to you because you deserved it.
He is now a Professor Emeritus at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH.
The fundamental-and-first way that God-in-the-Bible called people unto the way of Life, Hope, and Reconciliation? By name. See the likes of Isaiah 43:1 and John 10:3. And the call stories of folks like Moses, Samuel, Mary, Saul/Paul.