Once again

One of the smallest yet most influential linguistic centers in all the world is nestled in the hills out of the way from a heavily trafficked interstate just a couple of miles north of it.  I took a course there once.  My professor was a visiting professor for the summer from Brown University.  It was one of the best courses I have ever taken.  He had a knack for guiding one into large amounts of knowledge in a very short time.

Today when I visited the campus and meandered among the offices of the esteemed instructors, I couldn't help but notice the great diversity of the faculty there.  One office had a sign "Wild-eyed bibliomaniac" on the doorpost, another had "Second Language and Culture Acquisition."  These teachers have all been in the field for a long time before they ever wind up in the halls of academe here. But, that only enhances the intrigue they bring to the place.

The teachers do have one thing in common.  Every single one of them has had to go to various groups, individuals, and corporations to raise their support.  The university doesn't pay them at all.  They have lived such sacrificial lives (in that they have sacrificed prestige and a certain level of prosperity for the passion of working in the field and trying to impart that knowledge later in life to those who come behind them).

I am always impressed with their knowledge, but inspired as well.  I am inspired that the professors there, some of whom I know and have gone to school with, know so much, work hard at transmitting their knowledge to others, and act so humbly as if they are regular people.  I am inspired by their discipline in the midst of austerity.  I am awed by their wit and humor because I am very short in both of these categories.  I am so aware of the tiny little niche I may fill compared to the vast array of opportunities for learning the average student is exposed to there.  But, that inspires me to do well in my little space in the world.

I needed the trip to this private, backwoods, semi-hidden, tranquil environment to be around such an assorted crew of individuals.  I needed to be prodded and to be inspired once again, for I had lost a step in getting to the top and staying there in a very specialized field.  Inspiration is such a positive feeling.