Professor Project: Artie Terry
He just wants to keep on Artie-ing
By Bri Shaw | Multimedia journalist
Bethel University communications professor Artie Terry didn’t have teaching in mind when he was going to college, but an old mentor of his got him an interview at Wheaton College which eventually lead him to his career as a prof today.
Why Bethel?
“I was at Wheaton College for 11 years and they were making some plans and changes that I thought wouldn’t necessarily be a good fit for my skill set. Dr. Brulee was working here and said that I should check out Bethel. I actually turned down the job the first time, and then I changed my mind.”
What was one success or failure in your career?
“No one’s ever asked me that before … My writing partner and I, just last week, had our first table reading for my new movie that will be coming out (in) I’m guessing 2019…There’s a lot of excitement about it. Tim DeKay is going to be our director and star in it, and he’s best known for his work with White Collar and Carnivale HBO. He’s really excited about it, and it was a really good experience because everybody actually laughed and we weren’t sure if it was really funny or not.”
“I had a different plan and a different career path all planned out in my head, but God had a different idea.”
Why do you teach? Why?
“It’s funny actually, I didn’t want to teach … I had other ideas. I had a different plan and a different career path all planned out in my head, but God had a different idea … I used to always say, “Well, if I was teaching school I would do this, I would do that …” One my professors (when I was) at Regent University submitted my name to the Wheaton College faculty position that they had without telling me. He was British. His name was Andrew Quick. (In a British accent) ‘Artie! Artie! I hope you don’t mind, I put your name in the hatful position at Wheaton College.’ Now, I owe this guy a lot. He was like a mentor to me. He actually paid my tuition one semester because I didn’t have any money. So I couldn’t ‘not’ take the interview. So I took the interview and got the job, and I started to like it once I got into doing it.”
Who or what has influenced you the most? What are your other influences?
“(Andrew Quick) He was a mentor. He was very encouraging to me.”
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
“The ability to bend time because I could stop bad things from happening to people. I could witness some atrocity and just stop everything, then spin time around and make sure that doesn’t happen … I was going to say invisibility, but there’s that weird connotation so I didn’t say it.”
What is your most embarrassing teaching story?
“Oh that’s easy. I’m teaching a lecture (at Wheaton College) at Writing for Media, and I’m in there waving my arms around, getting all excited and energetic to get everyone into it. Then I stopped to listen to myself as I was speaking, and I (thought) ‘Oh my gosh, I am so boring.’ I stopped the lecture and said, ‘You know what guys, I’m bored. I know you must be.’ So I stopped class, walked out and told everybody to go to lunch.”
“Best advice I’d ever gotten: Keep on Artie-ing.”
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
“I met a guy years ago. He was a theater prof and his name was Jim. I didn’t know him that well because he left soon after I got there, but we had a talk one day and he said, ‘Keep on Artie-ing. Be who and what you are.’ Best advice I’d ever gotten: Keep on Artie-ing.”
What do you love about Bethel?
“I’m a laidback kind of guy, so I like to have fun in my classes. Most of my classes I try to keep it light. Now, some places don’t let you do that. But I like to have fun in class. You know how it is. I’m always doing voices or joking around. That’s what I love most about it. And the students here, for the most part, are hardworking students. If you have fun with people who are trying to get stuff done it’s pretty cool.”
What would you wish to change about Bethel? Why?
“I would get us all more money because we could always use more money! (Laughs) I’d give everybody raises. Faculty, staff, student workers … I’d give everybody mad raises. From administration on down, everybody gets raises.”
What is one critique you have of Bethel’s student community?
“You guys work too hard … I mean, we all do. Partially, we put that on you. You just walk around campus and everyone’s burned out. It’s like Walking Dead. Everyone’s just glazed over- faculty included. But yeah, you guys work too hard.
What is the best moment you’ve had here in your time at Bethel?
“When I announced that I was engaged to Dr. Brule. That was one of my best moments. I went to her class to do something, and one of her kids busted us. She said, ‘Okay guys, what’s going on?’ and I said, ‘I’m engaged to Dr. Brule.’… publicly acknowledging that in a classroom I think was a big moment.”
“I realized that it was an external thing and God had moved in my life.”
What is your faith story?
“My first marriage my wife became a Christian, and I wasn’t totally on board at the time. She insisted I go to church, so I said, ‘Fine, I’ll go. Let’s not talk about it anymore.’ One day I was coming home, this was in the late 70s I want to say, and at the time I was a substance abuser. So I came home one day and this guy I used to buy marijuana from was on the street, and he liked me. So it was a Friday, I had just gotten paid. So he’s waiting and said, ‘Man, I’ve been waiting for you … (He had a nice, big bag of weed) I only want this much for it.’ Which was nothing. I said, ‘No, Stan, I’m not interested.’ And I walked in the house up to my apartment. I sat down and I thought, ‘Wait a minute. What did I just do?’ I realized that it was an external thing and God had moved in my life. It’s a much longer story than that, but that’s the short version of it.
What’s the worst job you ever had?
“OH! That’s an EASY one! I’m in high school — Summer job — and back then when they had satellites, everything was done on tape. So satellites would send information down from NASA to air force bases … back then, the reels were 18 inches of tape. They would back semi trucks full of these tapes, and my job was to take each of these tapes off a rack individually, put a sticker on it, cross out the old number, and write the new number in the notebook. That was the job. Now that wasn’t bad enough, my supervisor was my old girlfriend’s new boyfriend. And there was no air conditioning in the warehouse. That’s THE worst job I’ve ever had.”
