"Have you ever really had a teacher? The one who saw you as a raw
but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud
shine? If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will
always find your way back. Sometimes it’s only in your head. Sometimes it is
right alongside their bed.”
-Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
I have been blessed to
have found amazing teachers and mentors throughout my school and college life.
Starting from my Class 4 House Warden who allowed me to supervise Nursery
students for 10-15 minutes in the morning which made me fall in love with the
idea of being a teacher, to the HOD of my undergrad college who was extremely
supportive and never lost confidence in me while I was going through a
particularly rough patch. I owe a large part of who I am today to my teachers.
They taught me so much more that just what was given in the textbooks!
To fully understand the impact of this undeniable #madeofgreat person in my life, I will have to back up a little and discuss about my undergraduate days, and that rough patch I just mentioned.
I was pursuing my bachelors in Economics, and thoroughly hating it! The teachers were good, the classmates not so bad either, and I was living in the city of joy, Kolkata, so it took me a long time to figure out what was so wrong that I consistently under-performed in my exams. In fact, I finished my Bachelors, enrolled in a Masters programme in a new city (because I really needed a change of scenario), and was already halfway through my Masters that I realized what was wrong.
I was starting the third semester of my M.Sc. course, and could choose electives based on my interest areas. One of the courses being offered was "Key Concepts of Ecological Economics" by a Professor who had done his PhD from Barcelona and post-doc from Harvard. And not only were his credentials amazing, I was already interested in Environmental Economics and wanted to learn about this new field too. And so, what started as a need to learn more about the ecological and environmental scope of my field soon turned into me finding what I think is my true calling. And I owe it all to the professor- Dr. J. F. Gerber.
Not only did he make me realize what went wrong with me during my undergrad coursework, which is simple terms, was my inherent objection to valuing everything monetarily. I didn't know anything about the incommensurability of values, the different languages of valuations that are being used in the different parts of the world, and the increasing need to search for alternatives to the growth theory, and yet I could not accept the theories and models I was being taught. Dr. Gerber taught me about these basic concepts which made all the sense to me. And it is not very often that someone, without any deliberate effort, makes you realize all the doubts and confusions you had were for a reason, and opens a whole new world for you. These people, who change the whole way you think come once in a while, and always stay with you, whether you actually stay in touch or not.
But lucky for me, I was so inspired I picked an ecological economics theme, and had the honor of writing my thesis under his supervision. And during that time, whenever I had any problems, doubts or difficulties, he always made sure to solve them for me, motivating me when I couldn't analyse the figures, or found hurdles in catching hold of people for interviews. What made him so amazing was his genuine concern to make sure that I stay motivated and get aid anytime I faced any difficulties.
And although today, due to my continued involvement in the field, I know a lot of other Ecological Economics scholars, he will always not just be the person who introduced me to the subject, but also the mentor whose comments will matter the most.
To fully understand the impact of this undeniable #madeofgreat person in my life, I will have to back up a little and discuss about my undergraduate days, and that rough patch I just mentioned.
I was pursuing my bachelors in Economics, and thoroughly hating it! The teachers were good, the classmates not so bad either, and I was living in the city of joy, Kolkata, so it took me a long time to figure out what was so wrong that I consistently under-performed in my exams. In fact, I finished my Bachelors, enrolled in a Masters programme in a new city (because I really needed a change of scenario), and was already halfway through my Masters that I realized what was wrong.
I was starting the third semester of my M.Sc. course, and could choose electives based on my interest areas. One of the courses being offered was "Key Concepts of Ecological Economics" by a Professor who had done his PhD from Barcelona and post-doc from Harvard. And not only were his credentials amazing, I was already interested in Environmental Economics and wanted to learn about this new field too. And so, what started as a need to learn more about the ecological and environmental scope of my field soon turned into me finding what I think is my true calling. And I owe it all to the professor- Dr. J. F. Gerber.
Not only did he make me realize what went wrong with me during my undergrad coursework, which is simple terms, was my inherent objection to valuing everything monetarily. I didn't know anything about the incommensurability of values, the different languages of valuations that are being used in the different parts of the world, and the increasing need to search for alternatives to the growth theory, and yet I could not accept the theories and models I was being taught. Dr. Gerber taught me about these basic concepts which made all the sense to me. And it is not very often that someone, without any deliberate effort, makes you realize all the doubts and confusions you had were for a reason, and opens a whole new world for you. These people, who change the whole way you think come once in a while, and always stay with you, whether you actually stay in touch or not.
But lucky for me, I was so inspired I picked an ecological economics theme, and had the honor of writing my thesis under his supervision. And during that time, whenever I had any problems, doubts or difficulties, he always made sure to solve them for me, motivating me when I couldn't analyse the figures, or found hurdles in catching hold of people for interviews. What made him so amazing was his genuine concern to make sure that I stay motivated and get aid anytime I faced any difficulties.
And although today, due to my continued involvement in the field, I know a lot of other Ecological Economics scholars, he will always not just be the person who introduced me to the subject, but also the mentor whose comments will matter the most.
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