If you want to see happy professors, just sit in on lectures during the last few days of class in the semester.
At the end of the last lecture, most professors will sum up the class subject and wish everyone the best of luck in the future. Following that, they often receive a long round of deserving applause, and some even get a standing ovation. This is a powerful show of appreciation from the students and it certainly shows in the professor’s reaction.
If you look toward the front as this happens, you’ll see someone absolutely glowing with happiness. I think this is the moment when the professor truly feels the love and the satisfaction from teaching. A whole semester culminating in ten seconds of gratitude and mutual respect. It makes it all worthwhile.
As a student, it’s nice to show your professor that their tireless efforts of teaching don’t go unnoticed. That smile you see is as genuine as it gets from your professor. By clapping, you acknowledge everything the professor helped you learn. As a bonus, you get to learn a bit about your professor’s teaching motivations as well.
Inspiration: Good Karma and Good Health
Dr. Aumatma Shah works full-time with no pay at Karma Clinic, which she co-founded in April 2009. At the clinic, located in Oakland, California, patients don’t have to wait in line and don’t have to pay for medical care.
Dr. Shah is a naturopathic doctor, which means she uses natural remedies to heal and connect the mind, body, and spirit.
Since she says something that’s “free” is generally not valued, so she refers to her clinic’s health care is a “gift.” Karma Clinic’s concept is simple: Dr. Shah and three colleagues give the gift of health.
So why would anyone devote so much time and energy to strangers? Dr. Shah was inspired after volunteering at clinics right out of med school. She believes everyone should have access to health care and feels that good karma will sustain her needs. Ever since a young age, she had a vision of running a free clinic of some sort.
The clinic continues to run on anonymous donations from the community. Miraculously, every month, just the right amount of donations come in to cover the clinic’s costs and Dr. Shah’s basic needs. But this project might need more help soon, as Dr. Shah’s medical school loans will be due next month. She trusts that good karma will carry her and the clinic through these new challenges.
“We give patients the respect that they deserve, regardless of whether they have money or not,” she says. “Because they’re human beings, and everyone deserves health care.”
“We give, no strings attached.” Dr. Aumatma Shah says with a big smile.
Let me preface by saying that this is a rather lengthy post. The subject is something that means a lot to me.
Today, I ran in the Camp Kesem/Unicef 5k Benefit Run for Children.
I was one of the main organizers of the event and kind of at the last minute, thought it might be fun to run the race. I felt sick this morning and definitely had the butterflies going before the race. Part of that was due to feeling that my Camp Kesem name reputation was on the line. After all, my camp name is Flash. I felt like I had to live up to it.
When the race started, I foolishly zoomed to near the front in order to show all the Kesem members why I got my camp name haha. But soon enough, the race was on and I was keeping pace with a few other runners. I had originally planned to slow down about a mile in, but this was hard to do with two others by my side. So I kept up the pace most of the way through and pushed it hard on a really hilly course. I finished with a time of 21:52, which was about two and a half minutes slower than what I ran in high school, but faster than I expected after coming in somewhat out of shape.
The 3.2 miles passed by pretty fast actually. Running with others helped a lot and I couldn’t help but remember my time in high school.
This was my first 5k race in a long while. In fact, I haven’t run one since my good ol’ cross country days, when they were an almost weekly occurrence during the fall season. This race brought back a lot of awesome memories.
Good ol' high school days
A lot of people have asked me why I like running so much. It’s a pretty simple answer: I run to test myself, my heart, my guts, my will. I dare myself to finish a run, pushing myself hard, just to see… just to see if I can still do it… if I have the strength to carry me through.
Running cross country at San Mateo High School was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in my life and I learned so much from it. I owe it to all the wonderful runners on the team and Coach Tuff. The team camaraderie was amazing and was what brought me back year after year. There was just something about the struggle of long workouts everyday, and more importantly the struggle as a team, that I loved.
If this doesn't show a tight-knit team, I don't know what does...
We used to joke that our sport was all other sports’ punishment haha. I began freshman year as one of the slowest on the team, but no matter, practices and races were a test for myself, a test of what burned within me, a test of what I was capable of.
Although I don’t often run races anymore, running has remained an important activity in life. It’s one of my favorite outlets and going out for a run just helps me clear my mind a lot of times. Somehow, casual runs usually turn into mental and physical challenges. But I love challenging myself, and running is the purest way to do it. I’m just always curious about myself and my limits.
We all have different reasons of why we run, but I think this quote by the great American distance runner Glenn Cunningham sums up my motivations pretty well:
“People can’t understand why a man runs. They don’t see any sport in it, argue that it lacks the sight-thrill of body contact, the color of rough conflict. Yet the conflict is there, more raw and challenging than any man versus man competition. It is man against himself, the cruelest of all opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies deep within him, in his ability, with brain and heart, to control and master himself and his emotions.”
So that’s why I run. Why do you run?
I’m a busy busy person, and sometimes it’s hard to prioritize.
I’m busy by choice and I think anyone can do the same. Opportunities pop up all the time, and it’s really up to the individual to take advantage of them. Or if they don’t pop up, to go seek them out.
I like being active, participating, and doing. So often, and quite easily, I find myself involved in multiple organizations, work places, and student groups. I did it in high school, and now do it in college. It’s just part of who I am. Right now, I’m juggling two non-profit student groups (Camp Kesem Berkeley, Cal Do Something) and two jobs (Graduate Council Lectures, Public Health Research).
It gotten especially tricky this year, since I took on more leadership roles in the two student groups. Next year, I’m hoping to take on an even higher position in these groups, and that will very likely require sacrificing time from the other.
I’ve been weighing my options these past few weeks, and have found that it’s tough to have to choose between two organizations that I’ve become very involved with and whose causes I truly believe in. It will probably come down to whichever group presents the best opportunity for both personal and organizational growth. I’d love to commit equal time and effort to both, but I have to remember that other commitment too, school. Perhaps I’ll make a change in my jobs, but there’s a trade-off of money.
I guess I’m fortunate to have this problem though. I’m sure it’s the same problem that many other passionate Cal students face. So much to do, so little time…