A Thoroughly Inspiring Email

This is the difference between education here and back home. I wish all my lecturers were like this.
We were put into this communication module this year that had little relevance to our course of study and were rallying to get the module originally catered for us back. Here's my lecturer's response.

Hey Second-Years,

First things first: I miss all of you. I don’t expect that many of you would share that sentiment but I want all of you to know that I do miss our classes together. I know that plenty of things have been happening. Making a quick, short list: well, first, you are now in second-year; we’ve all moved to a new building; for some reason we have a lot less computers; you now have to share rooms; and we are in different classes (classes which some of us don’t really know much about nor understand the rationale behind). I know that all of that can be a little too much (or too annoying) to deal with particularly at the start of the year. And it it isn’t nice to start a new year in a negative gear.

With this e-mail I hope to give you all a slight push towards a better direction. I remember in my first year of university I had a lecturer who told me that much of design (it was graphic design back then) is all about “CVS to BVS”. That is, a Current View of the Situation to a Better View of the Situation. I hope that after reading this email we could all have a better view of our current situation.

I know that there have been many concerns about courses/classes (the new ones or the absence of the old ones). I have heard some of these concerns since the end of last year and I know that more have been raised since the start of classes this year. In all honesty I do share some of these concerns.

Now before anything else let us set some records straight:

1. From what I know (and I believe many of us lecturers in communication design share this opinion) the intention of those courses was to have a platform for communication students to work together, to interact and build a healthier understanding of their personal profession and the profession of other students in the broader field of communications.

2. We (us lecturers) agreed and believed that all disciplines (comm. design, PR, advertising, prof. comm. etc) involved in these new courses should be properly and equally represented in content (what is taught), outcome (projects) and pedagogy (how the course is taught).

3. With those intentions in mind, we supported the development of the communication strand courses and we agreed that our students should be a part of it.

4. We (us lecturers) agreed that it was best that our students took the courses at their second year. We hoped that in first year we could give you, our students, a grounding and better understanding of who you are as communication designers and by doing so you could engage with other professions more meaningfully.

5. Whether or not these first 4 points have been met is not the concern of this e-mail (although it is a concern of mine). This email is concerned with improving the situation by reaching and affecting the people who could truly make a difference—you.

I am not writing all this as an easy way of “resting” this issue. In all sincerity I ask you never to put this issue to rest. Perhaps we, your lecturers (the older ones who should know better), are failing you. We may be dropping the ball. If so, let me be first to say, I’m sorry. And allow me to ask you, partly for our benefit, but even more for the benefit of every aspiring creative-mind, show us how to do it better.

I have heard many reports of our profession being misunderstood and in some cases even disparaged and demeaned. Don’t hold that against them. They just don’t know any better. I’m not merely saying turn the other cheek and wait for another swipe. I’m saying go and understand them so that in turn they might understand your profession; that they might see that before highfalutin (pretentious) theory or any pedagogy you need the very human capacity of empathy to be a good communicator. Understand them.

I have heard that many of us do not feel that we are included in discussions or that any of the material suits our needs. I ask you: remove that from your minds. Do not think that any longer. More often than not people use words as perimeter markings. A way of saying: “this is what I know and if you want to enter here you have to climb my wall of words.” Bollocks.

Your job as communication designers is to expedite the transfer of ideas—make communication better. Don’t play that game of building walls of knowledge. Create discussions that are more textured, infinitely varied and vibrantly colourful that they will want to join in your discussions. You are intelligent. Don’t let walking thesauruses tell you otherwise. Engage with the material presented and pick up what you can. If it helps, imagine that you are archaeologists sifting through loose soil for real finds.

I am not asking you to take some moral high-ground and operate as if you are better than us or the rest of the school (although you may well be). All I am asking is that you take your job, that of a communication designer, seriously and go on to carry out your duties. Good communicators are engaged individuals. They know how to listen, to mark patterns and they know how to respond. They add value to situations rather than merely point fingers.

My dear communication designers, what you have in front of you is a communication problem. In fact, I could not have written a better brief. Now go fix it.

If you have read this far, I thank you and I hope you take on this challenge. If you see me in the halls, offer a high-five and perhaps remind me—God knows I need it—remind me that it will all be okay.

Reinar

How could you not feel motivated after reading that?