5/1/2008 OMG!

You might remember that last year, I attended the annual faculty/staff appreciation dinner, held each year by the Campus Residence Council which is basically all students on campus. It was so much fun last year that I decided to go again this year. Imagine my shock and surprise when they announce the Faculty of the Year Award for faculty who've been at UMF for zero-five years! That's me with Becca, one of my students this semester who is on the Executive Board of the Campus Residence Council. She made the award announcement on behalf of the student body. All recipients of the awards received certificates but I was the only one to get flowers because those were from Becca herself. :-) Inside the rolled up certificate was a note that said, "Plaques are being shipped; you will receive yours shortly! :-) " So I get flowers, a certificate AND a plaque!

What an incredible honor! First of all, it's voted on by students. How cool is that to have students decide that you're a good faculty member! And secondly, there are a ton more faculty who've been here 2, 3, 4, and 5 years who are my peers in this category and I received the award with being here only 1.5 years. I am blown away. I am so excited.

The card on the flowers is pre-printed with "Congratulations!" To that Becca added, "You deserve it! Thank you for everything."

Becca read her speech (a copy of it is below) and then after I received the award, she gave me the paper that she was reading from. At the bottom of the page was a sentence in parenthesis that she did not read outloud. It said, "(Dr. Grace is taking pictures so you can blog about this tomorrow.)" LOL! Do my students know me or what. Wait, blog about it tomorrow?! No, I'm blogging about it tonight!!

Grace had originally told me that she wasn't coming this year and then later told me she had changed her mind. Becca had contacted her and asked her to take photos. So Grace changed her plans and did that. What a friend! She got Rod, our department chair, and his wife Margaret to come, too. All 3 of them were sitting at my table and no one spilled the beans.

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Here's what Becca said:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor and privilege to present the Faculty of the Year Award to an outstanding member of the UMF community and to someone who has played such a large role in my future as an educator. This person is one of the kindest and most caring individuals that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She has so much energy and is just a delight to be around. There is never a dull moment in her class and she teaches with such conviction because she truly believes in everything that she conveys to her students. She knows more about technology than any human being I have ever met. In the wise words of John Keating as quoted in the movie Dead Poet’s Society, I say ‘Carpe Diem’ which means ‘seize the day.’ Thank you for all of your hard work, dedication, and caring as you seize each day. Thank you for being a dynamic part of this unique community of UMF. A million thank yous to Dr. Theresa Overall for making our lives extraordinary.