Thank you class of 2020

'Tis the season where graduated seniors' student email accounts are turned off, so I am receiving a lot of "thank you and here's my future email address" notes. They are, overall, quite sweet --- it's nice to hear reflections from students on what they learned and how I was able to help them achieve their goals and work on interesting projects.

And.

Every once in a while...

... one of them really tickles me. Usually I just hang on to these and post them on the wall of my office, but since (1) physical notes, and (2) being in the office are both currently infeasible, it's going to be a blog post. Of course.

Judge this for yourself (which appears amid several very laudatory paragraphs):

Unlike most Math professors, you were not generous with hints, which forced me to question and correct myself repeatedly. The experience was not instantly satisfying, but I'm happy that I learned a lot and felt a sense of ownership by the end.

This an absolute gem. Every other sentence is direct, straightforward praise, and it rolls off my sincerity-repelling feathers like water off a duck. But these sentences? These, which could quite easily change in meaning depending on tone and delivery? These strike me to the core, make me so proud and happy, reassure me that the work I do is valuable, and are a pure expression of the goal I am always subtly angling towards: student independence.

Thank you, class of 2020, for sticking with it through this completely bizarre culmination of your college experience!


This post's theme word is hyponym (noun), "a more specific term in a general class." Students are great; hyponymically, the class of 2020 are excellent!