-Professor Wood-
Unless you love chemistry with every molecule in your body, Chemistry 105 is a class that a student does not want to read on their schedule. It’s considered to be a “weed out” class here at Brigham Young University. But if you must take it, take it from Dr. Wood. Three hundred plus students and I have chemistry at eight AM five days a week and one hundred and sixty of us are freshman. How does any teacher get that many freshmen to class that early in the morning? Dr. Wood knows how. He loves chemistry and he makes sure that every one of his students knows how much he loves it. He comes prepared with visually stimulating experiments every day. He is always finding some reason to explode a balloon or light something on fire.
The month of October had been particularly stressful with two tests and a lot of new material. Everyone in the class was drained. On Halloween morning, we entered class and saw the 30 foot counter at the front of the room covered with flasks, balloons, liquids, and a lot of other chemistry gadgets we failed to identify. As soon as the bell rang a TA started playing 80’s music and Dr. Wood came dancing into the classroom wearing a tie-dyed lab coat and a pale green 70’s suit underneath. The outdated dance moves did not stop there. With each spin and failed attempt at the moonwalk he grabbed beakers, mixed solutions, made flasks over flow, lit fires and made magic right and left. We were all mesmerized by the things that he did. I realized that for the first time, he wasn’t telling us what he was using or what the chemical reaction for each demonstration was. We all sat there asking aloud what was happening and why this or that could happen, but we didn’t dare turn to our neighbor in fear that we might miss something.
That morning, Dr. Wood reminded us how much we love chemistry and how much we want to learn everything we can about the world around us. He helped us remember that coming to his class isn’t about doing well on the tests or getting this chem. 105 prerequisite out of the way, it’s about learning and understanding and that it can be fun. Thank you, Dr. Wood.
-Professor Johnson-
Every day before class, Professor Johnson greets the entire front row and the students sitting near the aisle with a firm handshake. Johnson teaches Religion 122 in a lecture hall that is filled to capacity. The very first day of his class, there were students sitting on the floor in front hoping they could add the class. Though the class has well over 200 kids, Johnson knows many of his students by name. The class covers a large amount of material and he uses every minute he can. In a typical college lecture class, if you sit near the top you can glance down the mountain of students and see the same glow of Facebook blue and white on lap top screens. But in Professors Johnson’s class, that sight is rare. He encompasses a perfect amount of humor and serious material into each lesson and he astonishes everyone with his preparedness. For the full 50 minutes he spouts out specific scripture references from all throughout the Book of Mormon and the Bible, without ever looking at a piece of paper or his own scriptures.
This past month, Professor Johnson has been especially supportive. The last week of February was packed with midterms and we had just taken a test in his class. He spoke to the class about ways that we can improve if we did poorly on his test. Moving to the front row and speaking with him after class were among the list of things. More than the words that he spoke, it was his demeanor that calmed the room. Students love Professor Johnson because he does not teach as if he knows everything or as if he is all that matters for those 50 minutes. He knows he is imperfect and he does not mind if his students are aware that. Something changes in a student teacher relationship when the teacher allows themselves to be seen as a person and less of an all-powerful body. Professor Johnson has done just that and the results leave no empty seats in class.
