When I transferred to the university that I am attending now, I did not expect to meet someone that would have a profound affect on my life. I certainly did not expect that someone to be a professor....but I suppose it makes perfect sense.

I have this professor for both my Poetry Workshop and a Literary Analysis class. He is both the most challenging and most amazing teacher/mentor I have ever had the chance to encounter in my entire life. The way he chooses to teach, they way he interacts with his students, it really inspires me to do my best work (or at least genuinely try to).

Today my workshop was incredibly emotional. Many people in the class are having things they have to deal with in their personal lives, and of course in a class that revolves around poetry these things are bound to come up. Today's topic was the Elegy - a mournful poem. There were many tears from people in the class, and this professor handled it in such a way that I was so impressed by. He embraced us all in a sort of "group hug" and really TALKED to us, human being to human being; friend to friend...

That is what a mentor should be like. He has an undeniable ability to remain in his sort of position of authority all while bringing himself to our level (or perhaps bringing us to his) and really letting us know that our work and our lives truly matter to him.

Anyway, I think it is so important to have someone within your art form whom you can really look up to and even trust to guide you through the learning process, and I am so glad I have found this person.