Teacher Appreciation Week

When you’ve had a great teacher who you truly enjoyed learning from, they leave a life-long impression on you. Through guidance, inspiration, and support, from a young age and throughout college, our teachers have had such an incredible impact on all of our lives. This week is #TeacherAppreciationWeek and we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all of the teachers who have impacted us, inspired us, and helped guide us over the years.

So many teachers meant so much to me as I struggled to become an adult. However, it was a group of college teachers whose influence I still have, a diverse group: Mac Davis (a tough-minded literary brawler from Chicago) at UC Santa Barbara who taught me the difference between thinking and having an opinion; Rhagavan Iyer (brilliant double PhD from Oxford), also at UCSB, who simply demonstrated in every lecture what it was to think and create; Kathleen Fraser at San Francisco State University, who introduced me to the greatest classroom I have ever experienced — the remarkable and unfathomable literary community that is San Francisco. These people and places informed me then and continue to today. – Larry

I appreciate every art teacher and professor that I have had for all the guidance and encouragement throughout my school years – Michael

I was most inspired by the entire graphic design faculty from college. To this day, I am grateful for the skills and sensibilities that they imparted. They unselfishly shared knowledge which has been passed down through the generations of teachers before them. – John

Although I have always admired all teachers and think every one of them deserve recognition for what they do, I particularly was inspired by my high school math teacher. Going into high school I struggled to catch up with the level students coming in from other schools were at, but this teacher wouldn’t let me give up. He had a way of making me understand and accelerate in learning. I remember feeling defeated at times and he would somehow be able to push me ahead. His style of teaching was amazing and he made learning math fun and rewarding. Math actually became my best and favorite subject in high school. I actually considered being a math teacher because of him. – Lori

I was inspired by my dance teacher of over 20 years – Miss Nancy Carole.  She taught me so much more than dance.  She inspired me to have a good work ethic and to be independent, confident and resilient. She always said that “the end of one step is the beginning of another”, and that’s a piece of life advice I have carried with me. – Jenn

There have been so many teachers over the years that have made an impact on my life. One of my college drawing professors once said ‘don’t be an artisan, be an artist’ and that’s always stuck with me. My college design professor was always extremely supportive of conceptual creativity, let my senior thesis idea flourish, and always treated our small tightknit class like equals and friends. I also had another professor who taught an art history class called Seminar in Contemporary Art that was also a poet and had the best dry sense of humor. Listening to his lectures on works of art were truly one of the most entertaining and memorable things for me.  – Brianna

I think the teacher who most inspired me was my design professor in college. His good sense of humor, disposition and dedication to teaching helped and motivated me to learn more and more about design and creativity. He was not only my professor but later became my good friend and co-worker at my first job as a graphic designer. As time went on I appreciated more his love of art and experience in graphic design. – Richie

My American Cuisine professor during senior year of college. He genuinely cared about helping students grow and expanding their thinking. He enabled creativity, instilled confidence and pushed me to go beyond my comfort zone. He was invested in making sure every student got as much out of their education as they could which continued after graduation. The way he approached teaching and enabled a positive teamwork environment has been in the back of my mind at every job I’ve ever had. – Angela

My son’s teachers at his daycare are fantastic. It was hard as a first time mom to let my child spend all day, all week with someone I really didn’t know at the time. But day after day it amazed me the things they were teaching him and how fast he was learning. The very first day I dropped him off at daycare, he was 3 months old, and they had him painting! They laid him on his tummy with his chest over a pillow and gave him a paintbrush with green paint and let him explore how the paint worked. They brought him outside and let him explore what the autumn leaves felt and looked like. He even learned to wash his hands at 3 months old which allows me to do it fuss-free at home when needed.  They were teaching him and letting him explore things that I – as a new mom – just assumed he was too young, or not ready for. His teachers have taught me that he is always ready to investigate, learn and dive into things no matter how young he is! – Ashley

I had an English teacher in high school that really cared about what he taught us. He was passionate about teaching us and really pushed us to work hard. – Mark

Sure!  Mr Ryan.  He was my 5th grade teacher.  He always had a way of getting the most out of me even when I wanted to give up.  Very nurturing and caring.  I will never forget him! – Carla