Yes, you can go home again—but you might need a map. Such is the price we pay for progress, I suppose.
[Editorial: Celebrate Your Corporate Rituals]
Last fall, I was asked to be part of the Florida Atlantic University School of Communication and Multimedia Studies Careers in Comm and Media Week. Suzanne Ffolkes, assistant dean for strategic affairs and public engagement at FAU's College of Nursing, invited me to guest lecture for her "Rhetorical Theories of Persuasion" communications course.
It didn't take a terribly persuasive effort to get me to agree. I used to be a college instructor and was intrigued by the possibility of returning to the classroom for a limited engagement.
When was the last time you visited your alma mater? More than a dozen years ago, I was on campus to attend a football game while the legendary Howard Schnellenberger was coach. When I was a student, one of my editorial cartoons for the school paper lamented our lack of a football team, so the experience was a bit surreal.
Since then, the main campus has continued to grow even more, so much so that I had to find my bearings once I parked my car. Turns out I was relatively close to where I thought I was, but the familiar landmarks weren't quite so familiar anymore. When did they build this sidewalk? What building is that? And when did they add name-brand restaurants to the dining hall?
[SCN Installation Showcase 2023]
While the campus may have thrown me for a loop, I felt right at home in the classroom. Of course, I immediately started checking out the technology. For the record, they had a Crestron control panel, Sony projector, and Da-Lite projector screen. But there was no time to start punching buttons—the dean loaded up my presentation on the university's network and it was showtime.
I’ve taught more than a dozen college courses, but I haven’t had to prepare a lecture in a long time. On the one hand, this was just a one-off. There would be little if no notetaking from the students, and none of this was going to be on the test. On the other hand, what college student wants to hear someone drone on for 75 minutes on how he used to walk uphill in the snow both ways to attend class, especially when FAU’s main campus is in South Florida?
In the end, I did my homework and produced a real lecture. It was fun sharing a little bit of wisdom with the students. At one point, I broke out my old iPod as an example of marketing (Steve Jobs' "1,000 songs in your pocket" is one of the greatest slogans of the 21st century). I pulled some social media posts from my PR days out of the archives. I even tossed in a little theory—Maslow's hierarchy of needs—for good measure.
[Editorial: Penny Wise, Ammo Round Foolish]
There was, of course, a generational gap. For example, none of them had heard of Douglas Adams, whose book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, had a profound effect on the absurdist side of my sense of humor. However, we had all heard of Taylor Swift, so there was common ground to be found. Plus, a few students wanted some extra advice after class, so I'll take that as a win. Go Owls!
