Well....It's been a tough week for UMaine. A wonderful member of the UMaine family has passed away, Charlie Slavin. This really hits home for me because I had such a wonderful experience with Charlie when I was at UMaine, I thought I would use this forum to tell someone about it.
I started at the University of Maine at Orono (as it was called then) in the fall of 1997. I was young and 10 hours away from home. UMaine was my first non-Catholic school experience EVER! I had gone to Catholic school my whole life! Also, UMaine was my first co-ed education experience since the 8th grade. It was the first time I was really away from the underside of my parents thumb and boy, did I have fun! Too much fun to be exact....at the end of my first semester, I had managed to compile a whooping .98 GPA!! Imagine! I was really embarrassed and felt like I had really let myself down as well as my parents. My father, it turned out, was not that upset. He too went to school a long way away from this parents and had really lived it up his first semester. He told me I had one more chance or I was going to have to come home. So, the mail came in and I was on academic probation. I knew I needed to buckle down!
I went back to campus eagerly awaiting to start the spring semester...new year, new me! I met a wonderful lady named Mindy Kezis. She wasn't assigned to be my advisor - I kind of just stumbled into her office before classes had started and asked her for help. She agreed. We looked over the classes I had signed up for and did some revamping. We looked over some testing from high school and the work I had did (or didn't do) in my fall classes. We wanted to get math and science out of the way...I knew that these subjects were not my best. In the fall I had taken BIO 100. This class was totally brutal. In high school, I had taken a few advance science courses, so I figured...BIO 100 - no big deal...WRONG! There were about 300 students in the class and the teacher was a robot. She wasn't willing to explain things after class or give extra help. She would always tell me to bring up any issues with my lab teacher. Interesting thing was that I actually got an A in the lab portion of the class. Mindy, being the keen lady that she was noticed this and said..."Let's try Biology for non-sciecne majors. Charlie is teaching it, you will be fine." Charlie, hmm...who is this guy that Mindy trusted with me? I figured she knew what she was talking about...so I signed up!
The first day of Science for Non-Science Majors that spring semester was also the first time it was ever taught on campus. Charlie Slavin and this other guy (I wish I could remember what his name was, but I cant) were standing in front of the class in a smaller more intimate classroom setting. There were probably 30 of us. On the every fist day Charlie says "...how many of you failed BIO 100?" I was happy to see that I wasn't the only hopeless soul to raise my hand! He said..."I promise you, if you do your work in this class and follow the game plan, you will not fail this class!" And we were off! The class was amazing! We covered the same major concepts the Robot covered in BIO 100, but it was taught totally differently. Charlie and the Other Guy team taught and they tag teamed us! They spent time listening to our questions and explained the concepts throughly. They put those concepts into practical practice and in terms that I could understand. They did not teach the class as if they were standing in front a room of future micro biologist...they taught in laymen terms and it was very helpful!
There was not a lab element to the class. Instead, we worked in teams on projects and did presentations in class. Each person on the team was responsible for a main part of the project but we all had to work together. There was very little homework...we did most of our work in class - which was very beneficial because if we had questions or problems Charlie and the Other Guy were there to help us out. We were expected to do our reading at home and had quizzes on our reading weekly. Even testing was what I would consider practical! We didn't have big tests once or twice a semester that I felt the need to cram for. Assessment was done in the form of a project that each person would do by themselves in class. We were given all the materials and had to put everything together on our own. I wish I could remember more about the final, but I can't...I feel like it was 100 years ago.
Well at the end of the semester, Charlie was right. I stuck with the game plan and I didn't fail! In fact, I got a B. There were a couple of things that really stuck with me about this class and Charlie. First, every time I had a question and would go and ask him - he would always reassure me that I was doing a good job. He always made me felt like I knew what I was doing and that I was doing it well! He gave me the confidence that I needed to succeed in this class and many others. The second thing that I took away from the class was that it was OK NOT to just stand up in front of a lecture hall and recite notes until the class was fast asleep. His innovation in teaching this class in a hands-on manner really made the difference in passing and failing for me. It was almost like they were tricking us into learning. We were having so much learning that it felt more like a good time and not a class. It really wasnlt until well after the class was over that I realized how much we really covered and how much I had learned. Lastly, I really remember how good I felt when I got my final grade for the class...so good indeed that I emailed Charlie and thanked him for the wonderful experience. I got an email back that thanked me for working hard and doing the best that I could.
Needles to say, I bounced back very nicely from my .98 and never failed like that again! In fact, I sit here with a masters degree and working on my second...not bad for a girl that couldn't break a 1.5 my first semester! There were many people in the UMaine community that helped me on my long journey: Mindy Kezis, advisor extraordinaire. Marli Weiner - who told me that I could get my Masters when other professors were telling me not to bother (may she Rest in Peace.) William Baker - who once ripped a paper I wrote up in front of the entire class and told me that it was a joke! Of course it wasn't, I just was not a very good writer then...but boy, did that ever teacher me to work harder on my writing. And of course Charlie. I regret not ever telling him any of this. I always saw him walking around Orono or riding his bike and thought...one day I'm going to tell him what he did for me...well, I guess, unfortunately it's too late. SO, for Charlie, I hope I can instill in my students the confidence, encouragement, and the want for academic excellence that he instilled in me. Thanks Mr. Slavin!
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