A professor who
changed my life.
By Melanie Daas
Seeing a 4/10 on your first college homework assignment isn’t really the best feeling in the world, if you didn’t know that already.
Basically it kind of feels like this…
I was barely into my second week of college and already I was failing Physics 205, just like I had feared when my adviser recommended it at phase one orientation. As more of an English kid, taking a science class that involved math was literally like being in a bad horror movie where I was waiting to be the first killed off.
But despite my first bad grade feeling like a fake-dagger to the heart, I still wanted more out of this class. I wanted to impress my mom who was living vicariously through my college career, I wanted to be able to talk physics with my science-minded little brother, and for some reason — I really wanted to impress my professor, Dr. Kim Pierson.
Doc. P. was my first impression of what college professors would be like. During a phase-two orientation ice breaker, we started talking about fishing; not college, not my credentials — straight-up fishing on the lake. It was such an easy conversation for me since my family’s outdoorsy, and he was just really relaxed and down-to-earth. My visions of 3-piece-suit, “I-eat-sleep-and-breathe-my-field-of-study” professors were pleasantly disproven by a smiley guy with a mustache, blue-jeans, and jokes that even he knew were bad.
When your new prof starts talking about cool stuff like fishing…
“I do have office hours,” he announced after he handed me my assignment, “you know, in case you need to ask me any questions.” All right, so this was definitely aimed at me. However, knowing that he was a cool guy didn’t make going into office hours any less terrifying. Who wants to admit to their professor that they’re absolutely lost? But I vowed that I would do it anyway, for myself and all of the people that were counting on me to do something meaningful at UW-Eau Claire.
At 10 a.m. on that Wednesday morning, I half-heartedly knocked on his open office door. The way he smiled and excitedly told me to “come on in” told me that either 1. Nobody had ever come to his office hours before, or 2. He really was genuinely happy to give students extra help in his class.
Walking into office hours like…
After that half hour of patiently working through each problem I was confused by, I knew that it was definitely the latter. My one office visit became an almost weekly one where I didn't have to fear asking the infamous “stupid question” because Doc. P. was just as invested in my learning as I was. He never turned me away, never made me feel lesser for not understanding, and never let me leave his office without asking about my day.
In that physics class of 40 people, I had a better teacher-student experience than I had in high school classes of 12. Through his patience, Doc. P. proved to me that I was and am capable of doing science, math, and anything else I set my mind to — even if I’m just genuinely more of an English kid.
When you finally understand something but you’re still needlessly doubting yourself…
With great professors like Doc. P. and the many others at UW-Eau Claire, I’m not only able to gain an education — but I also never have to fear exploring things that might seem totally beyond me. Because with professors that both know their stuff and treat you like a real person, nothing is out of your reach as long as you reach out for it.
And Doc. P., if you’re reading this, I want you to know that you completely changed my life. Not only did I pass physics, but to this day I keep my first Physics 205 exam — my first A in college — above my desk to remind me what you and your class taught me about education, life, and myself. That A was the first time I realized that I was good enough to be here, and sometimes, it’s the only thing that keeps me believing it.
To Doc. P. and all the other awesome UWEC profs out there…
For a professor to reach out to me meant a lot as a first-semester freshman who, admittedly, felt like she was drowning. In those extra hours you spent explaining and re-explaining things to me on your free time, you gave me a reason to pursue things that seem impossible — especially when they’re foreign and new to me. It’s professors and people like you that make this entire ride worth it, and I’ll carry that with me for the rest of my life.
Melanie Daas is a sophomore at UW-Eau Claire who’s studying Public Relations. She takes pride in singing with the UWEC a cappella group Callisto, being a Volunteer Coordinator for the AmeriCorps ECLIPSE program, and eating more dark chocolate than she cares to share.
