I am fully aware that my age is showing when I use quotes like “Show me the money!” and “You complete me” in class and none of the students have any idea that I’m referencing a sports movie. How can we discuss the route to becoming a sport agent if students are unfamiliar with Jerry …
Shared Stories
Did you hear about the time…? Did I ever tell you about…? Do you remember…? Were you there when…? For more than thirty-five years at Union University, conversations often began with some version of these phrases. From August 1989—when I arrived as a scared little freshman—until my job ended in 2024, I was frequently regaled …
Me-First Attitude
If you pose a question like, “What are your thoughts on the current college transfer rules?” you’re almost guaranteed to spark a lively debate about the state of intercollegiate athletics—especially on a campus where nearly 80 percent of students are athletes. Teach in a sport-related discipline, and the intensity rises: not only are most students …
Rag Drawer
Perhaps you call it something else—the place where worn-out shirts and frayed washcloths go to linger in a kind of suspended animation until summoned for duty as a dust rag or a soft cloth for waxing the car. Maybe it lives near your Junk Drawer or in some other tucked-away spot, but it serves a …
Weaving Threads
Does anyone else have an unfinished project tucked away at home? Perhaps it was a venture into woodworking, sewing, scrapbooking, or painting—now sitting quietly, reminding you of the Habit of Resilience you didn’t quite embrace to finish what you started. As I placed Christmas decorations around the house this week, I stumbled upon a framed …
Professor Gig
It’s been more than three years since documenting the phrase Gig Economy into a journal. And for many years before penning that phrase to the page, I had an inaccurate definition of what the expression meant. Mistakenly, any time I heard a reference to a Gig Economy, my mind conjured up thoughts of computers, data, …
Not an Expert
Yazoo, Mississippi—If reading those words fails to bring to your mind a rich southern drawl sharing the stories of Marcel Ledbetter and coon hunting, then you did not have the same rich childhood that I did growing up in the 1970s. But guess what? You do not have to miss out, because you can Just …
Just Ask Google
Just Ask Google. Have you come across these advertisements yet? If not, guess what? You can google it! (Aren’t I funny? Insert sarcasm). Perhaps my initial reaction stems from the current pressure I am feeling to convince these precious young college students in front of me every day that they do indeed have something to …
Appreciative Examen
Are you a math person or a language person? Perhaps, like me, you might rate yourself somewhere in between, similar to what is described in a previous post about being a Lark, Owl or Third Bird. Providing information in a numerical format seems easier for me to remember, but words also matter. Ask me to …
Come Jesus Come
When do you become aware of just how selfish humans can be? When do you feel convicted of your own personal selfishness? Has a moment ever struck you—perhaps even while praying—when you realized you placed your own desires above what’s best for others? If I’m honest, this realization probably happens more often than I consciously …
Flourishing @ Life 