The Invisible Metrics of the Classroom

Teaching is a profession that exacts a heavy emotional tax.

We often romanticize the lecture hall, but the reality is that the job is frequently thankless and exhausting. As educators, we are often the target of misdirected frustration, facing hostility simply for upholding standards of rigor or making difficult decisions. In the thick of a semester, when the feedback loop feels overwhelmingly negative and the administrative burden is heavy, it is easy to ask if the energy expenditure is worth it. But then, often when I need it most, a quiet notification lands in my inbox. These notes—moments of genuine connection and realized potential—are the counterweight. They are the reminders of why I chose this path in the first place.

To remind my future self of the impact that exists beyond the grade book, I have collected a few of these moments here. To protect student privacy, names and identifying details have been removed or altered and replaced with [something else].

Fall 2025

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Biochemistry (BIOSC 1000)

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I’m emailing you because I wanted to say a final thank you for this entire semester. As someone who absolutely hated biology classes (due to the fact they were just route memorization and nothing beyond that) before coming into this one, you truly flipped that experience around and made me fall in love with biochemistry. Your teaching styles of explaining the why and how to each concept (although at times made me think how is this even possible) truly made the experience of learning all the better. I extend my gratitude to the teaching team as-well as they helped me get through some hard topics many times as well.

I also would like to thank and appreciate you for all the support outside of academics you provided for me this semester. In a time where it was one of the hardest semesters of my life, I appreciated all the support and care that you provided, of which I couldn’t get elsewhere.

Genuinely, thank you so much for this course; I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed learning, challenging, and pushing my brain within concepts that I have always wanted to know the why and how for.

Thank you for giving me the time Tuesday after class and allowing me to express my argument to its full extent. I really appreciate your efforts this semester to try and make this class the best it can possibly be. It was a pleasure to actually speak with you as a human, and I was touched by the “Thank you to the student who decided to talk to me like a person” in your email. I am sorry that you have met with hostility and then some of this year. I thoroughly respect your continued adherence to your personal values, while also being open to suggestions. Overall, thank you for your time and effort.

Computational Biology (BIOSC 1540)

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I just wanted to say thanks for the great semester, I learned so much and it was cool basically looking at the intersection of my major and minor. It was a pleasure taking your class this semester, and a lot of fun chatting with you and [a colleague] during the [fire drill]. I decided not to take the final, so I thought I’d let you know via this email how much I enjoyed your class.

Spring 2024

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Computational Biology (BIOSC 1540)

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I just wanted to say thank you for leading an awesome course and for all of your efforts to make computational biology interesting and accessible to us students. It’s clear you genuinely care about our learning and the quality of your teaching. Good luck in all of your future endeavors and have a great summer!

Fall 2023

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Computational Biology Seminar (BIOSC 1630)

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First off, thank you for being such a big help this semester. You were invaluable to me during my applications, not just because you made my writing better, but because I felt less alone in the process. Thank you for your motivation, kindness, and support. I will send you my final draft of things so you can look at them, but there’s absolutely no pressure if you don’t get around to it. Since you were such a big part of the process, I wanted to send my final products to you.

Secondly, thank you for being such an incredible teacher this semester. I filled out your omets with glowing reviews, but those are anonymous, and I wanted you to hear it directly. You easily could have made the class 10x harder and less bearable. But your teaching was so open and honest, and I appreciate that so much.