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<< back to the 2001 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Postcards from Iowa, October 2001 What I want to ask each of you to do is to find a little time to help one
student along the way Students! From the point of view of a faculty member, they are both the greatest joy and greatest burden of the job. "When will we get our tests back?" "Have you looked at my data yet?" "I need to meet with you NOW!" And from the other side, "What are they doing in the lab, since they are not producing any data?" "How did they manage to set the vacuum packager on FIRE?!" "Will this one EVER graduate?" And yet just because you are not in academia, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have students. Almost every day, whether you are in industry or government you are teaching your "students" in the same ways that I teach mine. In my experience, some of my most memorable teachers were not those employed at a university. I’m thinking about students now, as our classes have been back in session for about six weeks, and especially about our Student Professional Development Group. We all should be proud of our Student PDG, because they have done so much in the brief two years they have been in existence. Not only that, they have a clear sense of where they would like to go with the PDG in the future. I am proud of them not only for what they are, but for what they will become. In ten years these students will be the Executive Board of IAFP and the chairpersons of the PDGs. They will be the one’s putting together the annual meeting program, and handling all of the details of IAFP’s 100th anniversary meeting in 2010. If that seems like a lot to expect of our students, remember that we were all students ourselves, not that many years ago. So what is the point? The point is that we have an obligation to all of our students, both traditional and non-traditional, to help them become the best that they can be. We owe them the same things that we expected ourselves; help, guidance, and a little knowledge along the way. We have an obligation to pass on what we have learned, because they will become "us" in a few years. I’ve heard comments about how it is best to learn some things the hard way. Honestly, when you learned that way, what did you actually learn? I vividly remember a "learning the hard way" experience with my grandfather. While I won’t get in to the details, let’s just say that it involved the ignition system of an automobile, and how much voltage actually goes to a spark plug to make it fire. Yes, I did learn a lesson that has stayed with me for many, many years, but mostly I remember that (a) I didn’t enjoy learning things that way and (b) I wish my grandfather had found another way of teaching that particular lesson. I would bet that all of us has a "sparkplug" lesson in our past, and that you remember yours just as vividly as I remember mine. What I want to ask each of you to do is to find a little time to help one student along the way. Whether that student is a traditional classroom student, or simply the new employee trying to "learn the ropes" of the company, help them out. And along the way, tell them about IAFP. Tell them why you belong, and what you have gotten out of the Association over the years. Keep in mind that what you are doing is strengthening food safety, however you define that term. You are also strengthening IAFP, and assuring that it will remain THE food safety professional organization. And keep in mind the saying from The King and I, that "by your students you will be taught." Same time, next month. |