A Professor Who Cares
By: Jake Turberville
The first day in class, she told us to call her Nadia, not Miss Bush or Miss Nadia. She is the type who wants her students to be able to talk with her and not feel intimidated by titles or authority, but also to understand she is an authority figure.
Nadia K. Bush, faculty member in the department of communication at the University of South Alabama, goes the extra mile because she cares about her students and career. She feels, faculty teach to be an inspiration to their students, to teach valuable life lessons helping students throughout their lives and educate them on their future careers.
I had the privilege to complete Public Relations Communication Methods (CA 386) in the spring semester of 2010 with her. During the semester, Nadia made me realize a lot of things about myself, the type of person I am and want to be in the future. She went above the call of duty and proved to us students she truly cares. Having her as a teacher is a privilege, classes are hard, but a student walks away with adequate knowledge of the communication subject being taught.
As an assignment for the class, everyone was tasked with reading “Tuesdays with Morrie” and then writing a feature story on a professor in the communication department. This led me to ask her a few questions on college, teaching and life.
What are three things you think students must do in order to be successful in life and college?
Students must have critical thinking skills, believe in themselves and never give up on learning and they are true in all walks of life. These are three skills a student or person may find obstacles in their life hard to overcome and rise above.
What do you like about teaching?
Everything – the connection you can make, helping people achieve their goals… there is a moment when you see the spark in a student and it makes all of the effort and time put into lectures and assignments worth it.
What advice would you give to college students?
Take time to learn and think for them. Every professor teaches students the subject at hand, but they also teach students’ individual characteristics and qualities they may want to apply to their personal and professional life. It takes perception and critical thinking skills to determine exactly what the quality was. We usually know more than we realize, and taking the time to realize this takes us further in college and throughout life.
What type of teacher-student relationship is necessary for success in college?
There should be a happy medium between a teacher and a student. Everyone is human, wants the same things, makes mistakes, but we approach every situation and opportunity differently. It is not a bad or good, but is what it is. You have to accept each person the way they are.
Is there a particular professor from college whom inspired you the most in college?
It was not just one teacher, but the entire communications department at South Alabama… professors like Drs. Don Wright, Mike Hesse, Steve Rockwell, Mike Hanna, Jim Aucoin and Jerry Wilson.
These teachers helped shape her into the person she is today and she is using what she learned from them to shape the young minds of her students. Most students see Nadia as a mentor and friend. She gives great advice and can always make you feel better about the situations you are facing in your personal and college life.
Every Tuesday and Thursday of the spring 2010 semester, I learned life lessons from an amazing teacher. The things I learned will be with me for the rest of my life and will only benefit me in the long run. Nadia is a tough teacher, but she is only tough because she wants her students prepared for the real world when they leave her class and the university and graduate, everything a student does in her classes will benefit them in some way throughout their life.
Her style of teaching involves applied skills, while in her class you are in a work environment and a student will use all of the skills he or she has learned in college. She is a hands on teacher; Nadia wants students to know what type of work employers are looking for, so she treats the course as a job, with deadlines and other aspects of the work environment. She will tell you the truth about your work and if the work you are turning in would be acceptable in the work place. Her teaching style molds you into a more organized and confident person. When a student graduates college he or she needs to be organized and confident, so they are comfortable going into the working world.
The greatest thing I learned from Nadia is to believe in myself and to not let the problems of others bother or interfere with the goals I have set for myself. Empathy is a trait we should all have, when we over empathize we lose sight of our goals. A student has to do what is best for themselves and not worry about what other people think and above all else believe in their self.
Having Nadia as a teacher has only made me want to be a college professor even more because I want to be able to teach students life lessons and help them. All students who have had or will have Nadia as a professor will appreciate the lessons she teaches them because she only wants to see her students succeed in life.
Nadia Bush is a graduate of the University of South Alabama where she received her bachelor’s degree in public relations and master’s degree in public and corporate communication. She is currently ABD, all but dissertation, at The University of Southern Mississippi. She has taught communication, public relations and design courses at USA for four years.
