Inspiration: it's a two way street

Last term I taught a course called “Comprehensive Illustration” to two groups of twenty students. I have taught this course several times now and I find that it is always the highlight of my year. This year I specifically planned to push the students creatively and assigned projects with creativity as the central theme. As an example, one of these assignments required students to hand draw a scaled dimensionally accurate machine that would turn one type of animal into another. The students loved it and they turned in a variety of machines, from an assembly line that through a series of gruesome steps turns a zebra into an ostrich to a series of electrically charged holding tanks that morph an elephant into a goldfish.

The most interesting thing happened as these students churned out tough assignment after tough assignment. I became engaged in their creativity and excitement. I spent more time preparing for that class than I have in years. I constantly polished my lectures and reviewed tests and handouts like they were religious text translations.

I also solved many pesky little problems that had been plaguing my department for months. I created new forms for the committees I’m on, I took on additional courses to cover for a sick co-worker, I even cleaned my office. The transformation wasn’t restricted to work either. I donated my old motorcycle to charity and cleaned out my garage and turned it back into a studio where I can paint again.

At the end of the term I had the students each paint a small square, which when put together formed the image of an Asian American looking out over traffic on a busy street. It was a picture used by the U.S. Census Bureau to highlight immigration issues. The painting turned out beautifully and I framed it, in my garage/studio and hung it in the computer lab of the graphic design department. Hopefully it will remind the students of a wonderful semester of work and how each of them faced creative challenges, but it will definitely remind me of why I chose to teach in the first place.

Creativity and enthusiasm breed more of the same. Being surrounded by students who love what they are doing and who didn’t mind working hard to make something just a little better brings out those same feelings in me.

I believe that students are motivated by their professors but just as dramatically, maybe even more so, instructors can be motivated by their students.