Light Bulb Moments

When I walked out of my local library, I realized that it would be a waste of a beautiful day to just get in the car and go home.

Therefore, I figured that a walk through town would be the right choice.

As I walked down the road from the library, I decided to introduce myself to a man named Irfan.

He was sitting on a bench with his son, waiting for a haircut at the barbershop just across from them.

As I struck up a conversation with him, he told me that he was born in India and had moved to the US for college in the 90s.

Irfan is currently a professor of political science at Georgetown University, and it was clear by how he mentioned his job that he loves what he does for work.

He said that he especially enjoys the research aspect of his profession, whether that involves teaching or working with his students.

While he has taught various courses, Irfan explained that his focus remains on the study of political science.

Meet Irfan

What brings him joy?

On this note, Irfan remarked that his students are a large source of joy for him.

More specifically, his joy comes from the experience of observing students come to new understandings and have what one could call “light bulb” moments.

Through these little moments, Irfan described that students become independent in their thinking, allowing them to come up with their own ideas.

Growing up, he had always known that he wanted to be a teacher, and though he had considered teaching high school students, he eventually decided on becoming a university professor.

Having been a student for most of my life, I have only ever known the student’s side of a student-teacher relationship

However, I was very grateful to gain some perspective on the teacher’s point of view through Irfan, and I hope a student reading this can benefit from this in the same way.